Minocycline

[Syntheso]

Minocycline

 

Minocycline is traditionally an antibiotic for acne treatment, but it can modulate glutamate-induced excitotoxicity, and has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects.
 

 

Minocycline: therapeutic potential in psychiatry.

Abstract

Pharmacological interventions to treat psychiatric illness have previously focused on modifying dysfunctional neurotransmitter systems to improve symptoms. However, imperfect understanding of the aetiology of these heterogeneous syndromes has been associated with poor treatment outcomes for many individuals. Growing evidence suggests that oxidative stress, inflammation, changes in glutamatergic pathways and neurotrophins play important roles in many psychiatric illnesses including mood disorders, schizophrenia and addiction. These novel insights into pathophysiology allow new treatment targets to be explored. Minocycline is an antibiotic that can modulate glutamate-induced excitotoxicity, and has antioxidant, anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects. Given that these mechanisms overlap with the newly understood pathophysiological pathways, minocycline has potential as an adjunctive treatment in psychiatry. To date there have been promising clinical indications that minocycline may be a useful treatment in psychiatry, albeit from small trials most of which were not placebo controlled. Case reports of individuals with schizophrenia, psychotic symptoms and bipolar depression have shown serendipitous benefits of minocycline treatment on psychiatric symptoms. Minocycline has been trialled in open-label or small randomized controlled trials in psychiatry. Results vary, with findings supporting use in schizophrenia, but showing less benefit for nicotine dependence and obsessive-compulsive disorder. Given the limited data from rigorous clinical trials, further research is required. However, taken together, the current evidence suggests minocycline may be a promising novel therapy in psychiatry.

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22486246]

 

It is said to synergise with N-acetylcysteine (an amino acid antioxidant at the NMDA receptor which many HPPD sufferers report amelioration of symptoms with);
 
 

Minocycline synergizes with N-acetylcysteine and improves cognition and memory following traumatic brain injury in rats.


Abstract


BACKGROUND:
There are no drugs presently available to treat traumatic brain injury (TBI). A variety of single drugs have failed clinical trials suggesting a role for drug combinations. Drug combinations acting synergistically often provide the greatest combination of potency and safety. The drugs examined (minocycline (MINO), N-acetylcysteine (NAC), simvastatin, cyclosporine A, and progesterone) had FDA-approval for uses other than TBI and limited brain injury in experimental TBI models.

METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS:
Drugs were dosed one hour after injury using the controlled cortical impact (CCI) TBI model in adult rats. One week later, drugs were tested for efficacy and drug combinations tested for synergy on a hierarchy of behavioral tests that included active place avoidance testing. As monotherapy, only MINO improved acquisition of the massed version of active place avoidance that required memory lasting less than two hours. MINO-treated animals, however, were impaired during the spaced version of the same avoidance task that required 24-hour memory retention. Co-administration of NAC with MINO synergistically improved spaced learning. Examination of brain histology 2 weeks after injury suggested that MINO plus NAC preserved white, but not grey matter, since lesion volume was unaffected, yet myelin loss was attenuated. When dosed 3 hours before injury, MINO plus NAC as single drugs had no effect on interleukin-1 formation; together they synergistically lowered interleukin-1 levels. This effect on interleukin-1 was not observed when the drugs were dosed one hour after injury.

CONCLUSIONS/SIGNIFICANCE:
These observations suggest a potentially valuable role for MINO plus NAC to treat TBI.

[http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20824218]

 

 

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Huntington's disease and Parkinson's disease have shown a particularly beneficial response to minocycline in research studies, and an antipsychotic benefit has been found in people with schizophrenia and minocycline is proposed as a possible addon therapy for some schizophrenics.

 

It is worrying that Minocycline, but not other tetracyclines, can cause vestibular disturbances with dizziness, ataxia, vertigo and tinnitus.
 

This user report from the board is worrying;

 

Why I didn't research minocycline and it's side effects first I don't know. An antibiotic for sebum production (acne medication) just didn't sound like something that would induce dp/dr? Anyways I've been on it for about a month now and just experienced a panic attack at work the other night. Did some research and sure enough this explains all my anxiety lately. All of the cases say they still haven't gotten back to normal SINCE taking the minocycline and this makes me so fucking upset. I haven't experienced dp in months and now I might not get back there? I cannot win. Now I'm going to have to go through withdrawal of this stuff and it's going to suck so much. ugh. h e l p

 

 

 

It seems to have potential, but there are some worrying factors, particularly the user report above.

 

[BigPapaChakra]

I posted about it in the HPPD stack thread - minocycline+aspirin seem to be useful for psychiatric purposes (more so than each individually, if I remember correctly). 

[Syntheso]

I posted about it in the HPPD stack thread - minocycline+aspirin seem to be useful for psychiatric purposes (more so than each individually, if I remember correctly). 

 

I know you did, I felt it warranted it's own thread, but then again, perhaps not..!

[BigPapaChakra]

No, I agree! It's a very interesting compound that warrants more research by us HPPDer's, and, perhaps experimentation. I'm just a little weary of using an antibiotic, but if I had even a decent amount of expectations for it mitigating symptoms, I'd surely use it. 

[onedayillsailagain]

There are several reports of Minocycline-induced DP.. Conversely, there are one or two stating it helped DP. Interesting. I'd still think D-Cycloserine would be better though.
By the way; I happened to mention NewMind in a Reddit post, and how they never replied to my e-mail about D-Cycloserine, and they replied. Just in case you guys were considering it.