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A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations

Tryptophan is an essential amino acid and a precursor of a number of physiologically important metabolites, including serotonin, melatonin, tryptamine, and kynurenines. We assessed tryptophan, kynurenines, and vitamin B2 and B6, as well as biomarkers of liver function and inflammation, in a group of...

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Autores principales: Bjørke-Monsen, Anne-Lise, Varsi, Kristin, Ulvik, Arve, Sakkestad, Sunniva Todnem, Ueland, Per Magne
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2023
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9953657/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36830760
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13020391
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author Bjørke-Monsen, Anne-Lise
Varsi, Kristin
Ulvik, Arve
Sakkestad, Sunniva Todnem
Ueland, Per Magne
author_facet Bjørke-Monsen, Anne-Lise
Varsi, Kristin
Ulvik, Arve
Sakkestad, Sunniva Todnem
Ueland, Per Magne
author_sort Bjørke-Monsen, Anne-Lise
collection PubMed
description Tryptophan is an essential amino acid and a precursor of a number of physiologically important metabolites, including serotonin, melatonin, tryptamine, and kynurenines. We assessed tryptophan, kynurenines, and vitamin B2 and B6, as well as biomarkers of liver function and inflammation, in a group of 158 female omnivores and vegetarians aged 18–40 years. The majority of women were omnivores, and 22% were vegetarians. Vegetarians had 25% lower serum ALT, significantly higher pyridoxal concentrations, and significantly lower plasma concentrations of most kynurenines, varying from 8% lower concentrations of median plasma kynurenine to 42% lower concentrations of plasma xanthurenic acid, compared to omnivores. No significant differences were observed in vitamin B2 status or in inflammation markers, C-reactive protein and neopterin between the groups. Vegetarians had lower levels of several plasma kynurenines compared to omnivores. The reason for this is unknown; however, lower ALT concentrations, suggesting a better liver status, and a more favourable vitamin B6 status might be contributing factors.
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spelling pubmed-99536572023-02-25 A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations Bjørke-Monsen, Anne-Lise Varsi, Kristin Ulvik, Arve Sakkestad, Sunniva Todnem Ueland, Per Magne Biomolecules Article Tryptophan is an essential amino acid and a precursor of a number of physiologically important metabolites, including serotonin, melatonin, tryptamine, and kynurenines. We assessed tryptophan, kynurenines, and vitamin B2 and B6, as well as biomarkers of liver function and inflammation, in a group of 158 female omnivores and vegetarians aged 18–40 years. The majority of women were omnivores, and 22% were vegetarians. Vegetarians had 25% lower serum ALT, significantly higher pyridoxal concentrations, and significantly lower plasma concentrations of most kynurenines, varying from 8% lower concentrations of median plasma kynurenine to 42% lower concentrations of plasma xanthurenic acid, compared to omnivores. No significant differences were observed in vitamin B2 status or in inflammation markers, C-reactive protein and neopterin between the groups. Vegetarians had lower levels of several plasma kynurenines compared to omnivores. The reason for this is unknown; however, lower ALT concentrations, suggesting a better liver status, and a more favourable vitamin B6 status might be contributing factors. MDPI 2023-02-18 /pmc/articles/PMC9953657/ /pubmed/36830760 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13020391 Text en © 2023 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Article
Bjørke-Monsen, Anne-Lise
Varsi, Kristin
Ulvik, Arve
Sakkestad, Sunniva Todnem
Ueland, Per Magne
A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations
title A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations
title_full A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations
title_fullStr A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations
title_full_unstemmed A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations
title_short A Vegetarian Diet Significantly Changes Plasma Kynurenine Concentrations
title_sort vegetarian diet significantly changes plasma kynurenine concentrations
topic Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9953657/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36830760
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/biom13020391
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