D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD 25) was first prepared in 1938 by Stoll and Hofmann. It is the synthetic amide of d-lysergic acid with a secondary amine, diethylamine and belongs to the ergonovine group of ergot alkaloids all of which have lysergic acid as a base. After its ingestion in minute doses, it induces psychic states in which the subject becomes aware of repressed memories and other unconscious material in a setting of clear consciousness. This preliminary paper describes the results obtained from the use of the drug in 36 psychoneurotic patients over a period of one year. We consider that the drug will find a significant place in the treatment of the psychoneuroses and allied mental illnesses.

The relationship between Na-K-ATPase activity and p-aminohippurate (PAH) transport was examined in renal cortical slices of mixed-breed rabbits by using ouabain to vary the level of Na-K-ATPase activity. Ouabain increased passive PAH uptake, measured in the presence of probenecid. Slice homogenate Na-K-ATPase activity was inhibited by 50% with about 2 X 10(-6) M ouabain. When the concentration was 10(-5) M or above, active PAH uptake was inhibited. Lower concentrations (10(-7) and 10(-6) M) of ouabain stimulated active PAH uptake. Acetate stimulated PAH uptake when medium ouabain was less than 10(-4) M. Ouabain, 10(-5) M and higher, caused intracellular K+ to fall and Na+ to rise. The changes in active PAH uptake observed with ouabain correlated much better with changes in intracellular K+ or Na+ levels (P less than 0.01) than with changes in slice homogenate Na-K-ATPase activity. Vmax for active PAH uptake decreased with 5 X 10(-5) M ouabain, and tended to increase with 10(-7) M ouabain. Ouabain did not alter Km for active PAH uptake. The data support the hypothesis that there is a functional link between active PAH transport and Na-K-ATPase activity. This linkage may be an indirect one mediated by changes in intracellular cation concentrations.

The future of the psychiatric services, in particular of the mental hospital, has been the source of much speculation since the publication of the Hospital Plan for England and Wales (1962). According to the Plan there would, by 1975, be psychiatric accommodation in each Region at the level of 1·;8 beds per 1,000 population, as estimated by Tooth and Brooke (1961).

Tranquillizing drugs have become widely accepted as a major form of treatment in psychiatry. However, reports in the literature on these drugs have frequently been conflicting, with a marked tendency for the results of uncontrolled studies to be much more favourable than those obtained in studies where some method of control has been adopted. Sargant (1956) has emphasized many of the social, economic, and moral implications inherent in the extravagant and indiscriminate use of tranquillizers in general and has stressed the need for the proper evaluation of their therapeutic effects. In view of this need, we undertook a controlled comparative study of the effects of two of the phenothiazine compounds, promazine (“Sparine”) and chlorpromazine (“Largactil”), in the treatment of chronic psychosis.

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