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L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications

An essential component of the human diet, L-tryptophan is critical in a number of metabolic functions and has been widely used in numerous research and clinical trials. This review provides a brief overview of the role of L-tryptophan in protein synthesis and a number of other metabolic functions. W...

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Autores principales: Richard, Dawn M, Dawes, Michael A, Mathias, Charles W, Acheson, Ashley, Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie, Dougherty, Donald M
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Libertas Academica 2009
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908021/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20651948
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author Richard, Dawn M
Dawes, Michael A
Mathias, Charles W
Acheson, Ashley
Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie
Dougherty, Donald M
author_facet Richard, Dawn M
Dawes, Michael A
Mathias, Charles W
Acheson, Ashley
Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie
Dougherty, Donald M
author_sort Richard, Dawn M
collection PubMed
description An essential component of the human diet, L-tryptophan is critical in a number of metabolic functions and has been widely used in numerous research and clinical trials. This review provides a brief overview of the role of L-tryptophan in protein synthesis and a number of other metabolic functions. With emphasis on L-tryptophan’s role in synthesis of brain serotonin, details are provided on the research uses of L-tryptophan, particularly L-tryptophan depletion, and on clinical trials that have been conducted using L-tryptophan supplementation. The ability to change the rates of serotonin synthesis in the brain by manipulating concentrations of serum tryptophan is the foundation of much research. As the sole precursor of serotonin, experimental research has shown that L-tryptophan’s role in brain serotonin synthesis is an important factor involved in mood, behavior, and cognition. Furthermore, clinical trials have provided some initial evidence of L-tryptophan’s efficacy for treatment of psychiatric disorders, particularly when used in combination with other therapeutic agents.
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spelling pubmed-29080212010-07-21 L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications Richard, Dawn M Dawes, Michael A Mathias, Charles W Acheson, Ashley Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie Dougherty, Donald M Int J Tryptophan Res Review An essential component of the human diet, L-tryptophan is critical in a number of metabolic functions and has been widely used in numerous research and clinical trials. This review provides a brief overview of the role of L-tryptophan in protein synthesis and a number of other metabolic functions. With emphasis on L-tryptophan’s role in synthesis of brain serotonin, details are provided on the research uses of L-tryptophan, particularly L-tryptophan depletion, and on clinical trials that have been conducted using L-tryptophan supplementation. The ability to change the rates of serotonin synthesis in the brain by manipulating concentrations of serum tryptophan is the foundation of much research. As the sole precursor of serotonin, experimental research has shown that L-tryptophan’s role in brain serotonin synthesis is an important factor involved in mood, behavior, and cognition. Furthermore, clinical trials have provided some initial evidence of L-tryptophan’s efficacy for treatment of psychiatric disorders, particularly when used in combination with other therapeutic agents. Libertas Academica 2009-03-23 /pmc/articles/PMC2908021/ /pubmed/20651948 Text en © the author(s), publisher and licensee Libertas Academica Ltd. http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0 This article is an open-access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Richard, Dawn M
Dawes, Michael A
Mathias, Charles W
Acheson, Ashley
Hill-Kapturczak, Nathalie
Dougherty, Donald M
L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications
title L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications
title_full L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications
title_fullStr L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications
title_full_unstemmed L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications
title_short L-Tryptophan: Basic Metabolic Functions, Behavioral Research and Therapeutic Indications
title_sort l-tryptophan: basic metabolic functions, behavioral research and therapeutic indications
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2908021/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20651948
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