A trial of evening primrose oil in the treatment of chronic schizophrenia

Author(s): Bell, A.

Journal/Book: Journal of Orthomolecular Psychiatry. 1983; 12: 302-304.

Abstract: Evening Primrose Oil with supplements was administered to thirteen chronic schizophrenics an a double blind cross-over basis. No significant therapeutic effect was found but there is a possibility that the EPO strategy potentiates the epileptogenic properties of the phenothiazines.D. Horrobin's proposal that there may be a deficiency of prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) in schizophrenia (Horrobin, 1977; Horrobin, Ally et al., 1978) has, to some extent, found confirmation in the finding that PGE1 stimulated 3H-adnosine 3'5'-cyclic monophosphate (3H-cAMP) accumulation in platelets from schizophrenics was significantly reduced compared with control subjects (Rotrusen et al., 1980).The biosynthetic pathway involved in the formation of PGE1 requires vitamins B3, B6 and C together with zinc in addition to a source of linoleic acid (LA) and gammalinolenic acid (GLA). Evening Primrose Oil is a rich source of fatty acids containing 72 percent LA and 9 percent GLA. The only other substantial source of GLA is human milk. An appropriate strategy for treating schizophrenia might therefore involve giving EPO together with supplements. Vaddadi (1981a) has explored this possibility and found that EPO produced noticeable improvement in some patients, the effect being especially marked in those within five years of their first diagnosis. We have aimed to further explore the role of EPO and supplements in schizophrenia.

Keyword(s): Evening primrose oil

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