Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
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Query: UMLS:C0011570 (depression)
 172,036 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

The neuroendocrine response to L-tryptophan infusion was measured at two stages of the menstrual cycle, premenstrually and postmenstrually, in 13 women with and 13 women without premenstrual depression (the MC and NMC groups respectively). Previous studies have shown that in non-depressed women, this challenge test results in an increase in circulating prolactin and growth hormone. In depressed women both responses are blunted. In this study the growth hormone and cortisol responses were smaller in the MC group than the NMC group on both occasions. The prolactin response was blunted premenstrually compared with postmenstrually in both groups. These findings suggest that women who experience premenstrual depression may have neuroendocrine abnormalities throughout the cycle. The neurotransmitter abnormalities reflected in these altered endocrine responses appear to interact with neuroendocrine changes that normally occur premenstrually resulting in a vulnerability to depression at that phase of the cycle.
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PMID:Blunting of neuroendocrine responses to infusion of L-tryptophan in women with perimenstrual mood change. 187 35

We examined tryptophan and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine) levels in the blood after consumption of alcohol. Forty-five minutes after drinking, whole blood serotonin concentration was significantly reduced, whereas no changes were observed in tryptophan level. The diurnal rhythm of 5-HT in subjects who the day before had drunk alcohol was quite different from the control group, but very similar to that of patients with depression. The results strongly suggest that the mechanism of depression after alcohol drinking may be related to serotonin.
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PMID:Alcohol-induced depression: involvement of serotonin. 187 77

L-tryptophan is an essential amino acid taken as an over-the-counter nutritional supplement for a variety of conditions including chronic pain, insomnia, and depression. In October 1989 several patients were reported having eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) who had taken L-tryptophan in large doses. Little is known about the long-term outcomes of EMS. A patient with EMS who developed contractures of the upper extremities because of severe myalgias is discussed. Early aggressive rehabilitative intervention may prevent contractures in patients with EMS.
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PMID:Upper extremity contractures in a patient with eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome. 195 17

As many as 30 patients with affective psychoses were examined for the concentration of plasma kynurenine, a neuroactive tryptophan metabolite, and for the parameters of the dexamethasone test. A group of patients suffering from "endogenous anxiety" and endogenous depression were distinguished. In the patients' group with "endogenous anxiety", the concentration of kynurenine at the height psychosis was significantly higher as compared to controls, correlating with the gravity of anxious symptomatology. In the patients' group with endogenous depression, plasma kynurenine was significantly lower than in controls but did not agree with the depression gravity. The dexamethasone test appeared pathological only in the group of patients suffering from endogenous depression and its parameters correlated well with the gravity of depressive symptomatology. In both groups, the study parameters returned to normal after the egress from the morbid condition.
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PMID:[Plasma kynurenine levels and the dexamethasone test in patients with endogenous anxiety disorders and depression]. 196 8

There is circumstantial evidence that increases in prolactin secretion evoked by L-tryptophan infusion involve 5-HT1 receptors, whereas growth hormone responses do not. Propranolol is a beta-adrenoceptor antagonist that also possesses antagonist properties at 5-HT1 receptors. Propranolol (80 mg, PO) failed to attenuate the prolactin response to L-tryptophan infusion (100 mg/kg, IV) in seven volunteers; the role of 5-HT1 receptors in this response remains uncertain. The growth hormone response to tryptophan was enhanced by propranolol, consistent with previous reports of an inhibitory beta-adrenoceptor influence on GH secretion. Excessive beta-adrenoceptor function might explain the blunted growth hormone response to tryptophan in depression.
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PMID:Hormonal response to L-tryptophan infusion: effect of propranolol. 208 37

The dexamethasone suppression test (DST), the thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) test, and the ratio of plasma L-tryptophan to competing amino acids (L-TRP/CAA) were studied in relation to the 21 items of the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) in 123 depressed patients categorized according to DSM-III. The relationships between the biological data and the items or item clusters of the HDRS were assessed by multivariate analyses. The psychopathological correlates of increased post-dexamethasone cortisol and decreased thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) responsivity to TRH were middle and delayed insomnia and weight loss. The symptom correlates of decreased availability of L-TRP to the brain were psychic anxiety, depersonalization, obsessions and paranoid symptoms. Core depressive symptoms, i.e. depression, loss of interest, feelings of guilt and suicidal thoughts, were not related to the biological markers.
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PMID:Symptom profiles of biological markers in depression: a multivariate study. 211 48

The ratios of total and free plasma tryptophan to the sum of five large neutral amino acids (LNAAs) were found to be significantly lower in a group of 16 depressed inpatients compared to nine normal subjects after oral loading with L-tryptophan. The group differences in these ratios were significant before, and 2 weeks after starting treatment with a tricyclic antidepressant. Plasma tryptophan ratios and severity of depression were not significantly correlated.
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PMID:Plasma tryptophan to large neutral amino acid ratios in depressed and normal subjects. 214 Aug 48

In the treatment of depression, when antidepressant drug choice is made according to alterations of erythrocyte membrane transport of L-tyrosine and L-tryptophan in the individual patient, the clinical results are superior to those obtained when drugs are prescribed according to the physician's judgment. This is demonstrated by comparing three experimental groups: I, 100 patients treated in relation to their L-tyrosine and L-tryptophan transport; II, 30 patients treated according to the clinician's experience; III, 38 subjects treated against the L-tyrosine and L-tryptophan transport indications. In these groups, the frequency of patients improved by more than 70% is 77%, 47%, and 16%, respectively.
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PMID:L-tyrosine and L-tryptophan membrane transport in erythrocytes and antidepressant drug choice. 215 54

1. The plasma levels of L-tryptophan (L-TRP) and the sum of five competing amino acids (CAA) namely tyrosine, phenylalanine, valine, leucine, isoleucine, were determined in 79 depressed females categorized according to the DSM-III. 2. In these patients the authors measured several parameters known to affect the availability of the above amino acids, i.e. triidothyronine (FT3) and thyroxine (FT4), vanilylmandelic acid (VMA), noradrenaline and adrenaline in 24 hr urine, the sex hormonal and nutritional state. 3. The 1 mg dexamethasone suppression test was performed and the pre and postdexamethasone cortisol and adrenocorticotropic hormone (ACTH) levels were determined at 8 a.m. 4. L-TRP and the ratio L-TRP/CAA were significantly lower in severely depressed females (296.X3, 296.X4) as compared with minor (300.40, 309.00) and simple major depressives (296.X2). The ratio L-TRP/CAA performed well as a clinical tool separating melancholic from minor depression. 5. FT3, FT4, VMA and noradrenaline were significantly increased in the severely depressed females, but these data did not correlate with the availability of L-TRP. Neither baseline cortisol nor the sex hormonal, nor the nutritional state related to the L-TRP data. The ratio L-TRP/CAA was significantly and negatively correlated with the postdexamethasone cortisol and ACTH values.
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PMID:The decreased availability of L-tryptophan in depressed females: clinical and biological correlates. 217 60

In view of evidence that brain serotonin (5-HT) function is abnormal in depression, the ability to alter 5-HT function has been studied as a mechanism of antidepressant drug action. In preclinical studies, antidepressants had significant effects on 5-HT receptor sensitivity. In the clinical setting, the pharmacologic challenge paradigm has generated interest as a means of studying 5-HT function. Most frequently used in these studies has been intravenous L-tryptophan (L-TRP), which increases serum prolactin (PRL). The authors review the neuroendocrine effects of intravenous L-TRP in depression and other conditions, as well as the effects of thymoleptic drugs on the PRL response to L-TRP. Findings are discussed in light of recent evidence that experimentally reduced plasma TRP can reverse the therapeutic effects of some antidepressants.
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PMID:Clinical data on the role of serotonin in the mechanism(s) of action of antidepressant drugs. 218 16


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