[Role of tryptophan in the physiological regulation of brain serotonin synthesis (author's transl)].

Abstract

Tryptophan hydroilase in brain, normally is not saturated by its substrate; therefore the rate of tryptophan hydroxilation in brain is controlled by the concentration of tryptophan. In the other hand, brain tryptophan content is controlled by the ratio of the concentration of free tryptophan (i.e. not bound to serum proteins) to that of the other circulating amino acids, wich compete for the same transport mechanism from blood to brain. The administration of an amino acid mixture, containing all essential amino acids but not tryptophan, caused a parallel depletion of total and free serum tryptophan and of tryptophan and serotonin in brain. The mechanism of the observed fall in serum tryptophan is a rapid removed of endogenous tryptophan from circulation, secondary to an increased incorporation of tryptophan into proteins by the liver. These results suggest the hypothesis that brain serotonin synthesis is controlled by a perpherical mechanism.