Reference: http://www.ajcn.org/content/76/5/1151S.long#R4
SAMe for Depression - 40 clinical supporting studies involving ~1400 patients. In 1994 Dr. Giorgio Bressa, a psychiatrist at the University Cattolica Sacro Cuore in Rome, pooled results from a dozen controlled trials and found that "the efficacy of SAMe in treating depressive syndromes... is superior [to] that of placebo and comparable to that of standard... antidepressants."
Janicak PG, Lipinski JD, Comaty JE, et al. S-Adenosylmethionine: a literature review and preliminary report. Ala J Med Sci 1988;25:306-13.[Medline]
Friedel HA, Goa KL, Benfield P. S-Adenosyl-L-methionine: a review of its therapeutic potential in liver dysfunction and affective disorders in relation to its physiological role in cell metabolism. Drugs 1989;38:389-416.[Medline]
Bressa GM. S-Adenosyl-L-methionine (SAMe) as antidepressant: meta-analysis of clinical studies. Acta Neurol Scand 1994;154:7-14.
Link to several supporting studies for SAMe with depression
SAMe for pain/inflammation/arthitis
- In a dozen clinical trials involving more than 22,000 patients, researchers have found SAMe as effective as pharmaceutical treatments for pain and inflammation - but unlike the NSAIDs, SAMe shows no sign of damaging the digestive tract. The Arthitis Foundation medical experts concur.
- Joint-protective - after SAMe loses a methyl group to become homocysteine, it can be broken down to form glutathione, which reaction also yields sulfate groups, which help generate joint-protective proteoglycans. SAMe accumulates in the synovial fluid that lubricates joints. Certain chemicals resulting from SAMe breakdown can relieve pain and inflammation
SAMe for liver diseases - "The administration of a stable salt of SAMe, either orally or parenterally, has been shown to restore normal hepatic function in the presence of various chronic liver diseases (including alcoholic and non-alcoholic cirrhosis, estrogen-induced and other forms of cholestasis (bile impairment or blockage), to prevent or reverse hepatotoxicity due to several drugs and chemicals such as alcohol, paracetamol (acetaminophen), steroids and lead, and to have antidepressant properties."
Friedel HA, Goa KL, Benfield P"S-adenosyl-L-methionine. A review of its pharmacological properties and therapeutic potential in liver dysfunction and affective disorders in relation to its physiological role in cell metabolism." Drugs 1989 Sep;38(3):389-416. (ADIS Drug Information Services, Auckland, New Zealand).
- SAMe has been found to prevent or reverse liver damage caused by certain drugs, alcohol, and cytokines - It protects against liver damage caused by MAO inhibitors and anti-convulsants.
- It reverses hyperbilirubinaemia
- Rat study showed the beneficial effects of SAMe on liver disease - Fetal rat liver cells were exposed to ethanol, causing a 40% reduction in DNA synthesis, a doubling of free radicals, a 30% decrease in cellular ATP, altered mitochondrial function, and cell damage. Pretreatment with SAMe maintained cell replication, decreased free radicals and prevented ATP and glutathione depletion. A study in Hepatology
Lieber CS. Role of S-adenosyl-L-methionine in the treatment of liver diseases. J Hepatol 1999;30:1155-9. Medline
Williams R, Lieber CS. The role of SAMe in the treatment of liver disease. Drugs 1990;40(suppl):1-2. Medline
Mato JM, Camara J, Fernandez de Paz J, et al. S-Adenosylmethionine in alcoholic liver cirrhosis: a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, multicenter clinical trial. J Hepatol 1999;30:1081-9. Medline
SAMe for INSULIN resistance
- SAMe "improved whole body INSULIN sensitivity, and prevented body weight gain"- in animal model of type 2 diabetes mellitus and INSULIN resistance.
"S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine Increases Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial DNA Density and Whole Body Insulin Sensitivity in OLETF Rats1".
SAMe for osteoarthritis
Bradley JD, Flusser D, Katz BP, et al. A randomized, double blind, placebo controlled trial of intravenous loading with S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) followed by oral SAM therapy in patients with knee osteoarthritis. J Rheumatol 1994;21:905-11.[Medline]
Padova C. S-Adenosylmethionine in the treatment of osteoarthritis: review of the clinical studies. Am J Med 1987;83:60-5.[Medline]
SAMe for schizophrenia
SAMe for demyelination diseases - has a variety of pharmacological effects in the CNS, especially on monoamine neurotransmitter metabolism and receptor systems
- Protects against neuronal death caused by lack of oxygen(anoxia).
- Regenerates nerves and provokes remyelination of nerve fibers
- SAMe Treatment with methyl donors (betaine, methionine and SAMe) is associated with remyelination in patients with inborn errors of folate and C-1 (one-carbon) metabolism
SAMe for Dementia, Alzheimers
- Alzheimer's patients have severely decreased levels of SAMe in their brains -a turnaround from an idea that the brain had too much SAMe!
Morrison LD, Smith DD and SJ Kish. 1996. J Neurochem 67: 1328-1331.
SAMe for CVD
- Swiss researchers showed that high homocysteine levels that precede heart disease
Stampfer MJ, Malinow MR, Willett WC, et al. 1992. A prospective study of plasma homocysteine and risk of myocardial infarction in US physicians. JAMA 268: 877-81
- Low blood SAMe levels are correlated with the development of CAD - SAMe deficiency has a deterimental effect on homocysteine metabolism. SAMe plays a crucial role preventing the breakdown of MTHFR -The enzyme methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) needed to convert folate to its active form, 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (5-MTHF). This folate form is directly involved in homocysteine metabolism.
Loehrer MTF, Angst CP, Haefeli WE, Jordan PP, Ritz R and B Fowler. 1996. Low whole-blood S-adenosylmethionine and correlation between 5- methyltetrahydrofolate and homocysteine in coronary artery disease. Arth Throm Vasc Biol 16: 727-733.
- SAMe also remethylates homocysteine back into methionine
SAMe for Cancer
- Scientists suspect that adequate methylation of DNA can prevent the expression of harmful genes
