Plasma vanadium concentration in manic-depressive illness

Abstract

SYNOPSIS 133 samples of plasma taken from 9 normal control and 8 manic-depressive subjects were analysed for vanadium by atomic absorption spectrometry. Mean plasma vanadium concentrations were 0·15 μM in normal control, 0·34 μM in manic and 0·28 μM in depressed subjects, and 0·23 μM in manic-depressive subjects after recovery. The differences between normal subjects and manic and recovered subjects were statistically significant. Significant negative correlations were found between plasma vanadium concentration and the ratio of Na–K–Mg ATPase to Mg–ATPase in 2 manic-depressive subjects, but not in normal subjects. The results suggest that vanadium may be a cause of the variations in Na–K–Mg ATPase and sodium pump activity which are associated with manic-depressive illness.