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About tryptophane - an essential amino acid

The role of thryptohane in the body

For many organisms including humans, tryptophan is an essential amino acid. This means that it cannot be synthesized by the organism and therefore must be part of its diet. The principle function of amino acids including tryptophan are as building blocks in protein biosynthesis. In addition, tryptophan functions as a biochemical precursor for the following:

Serotonin (a neurotransmitter), via tryptophan hydroxylase. Serotinin, in turn, can be converted to melatonin (a neurohormone), via 5-hydroxyindole-O-methyltransferase
Niacin (with kynurenine as an intermediate)
In organisms which synthesize tryptophan, high levels of this amino acid activate a repressor protein which in turn binds to the trp operon. Binding of this repressor to its operon prevents transcription of downstream DNA which codes for enzymes involved in the biosynthesis of tryptophan. Hence high levels of tryptophan prevent additional tryptophan synthesis through a negative feedback loop. Conversely if the cell's tryptophan level drops, transcription of the operon's genes resumes. This is one example of how gene expression responds rapidly to changes in the cell's internal and external environment.
 

Uses as a dietary supplements

Tryptophan, found as a component of dietary protein, is particularly plentiful in chocolate, oats, bananas, dried dates, milk, yogurt, cottage cheese, red meat, eggs, fish, poultry, sesame, chickpeas, sunflower seeds, pumpkin seeds,spirulina and peanuts. It is found in turkey at a level typical of poultry in genera.

Uses as a dietary supplement

For some time, tryptophan was available in health food stores as a dietary supplement. Since 2002, L-Tryptophan has been sold again in its original form. Many people found tryptophan to be a safe and reasonably effective sleep aid, probably due to its ability to increase brain levels of serotonin (a calming neurotransmitter when present in moderate levels) and/or melatonin (a sleep-inducing hormone secreted by the pineal gland in response to darkness or low light levels).

Clinical research tended to confirm tryptophan's effectiveness as a natural sleep aid and for a growing variety of other conditions typically associated with low serotonin levels or activity in the brain. (Particularly work by Dr. Richard Wurtman at MIT). In particular, tryptophan showed considerable promise as an antidepressant alone, and as an "augmenter" of antidepressant drugs. Other promising indications included relief of chronic pain and reduction of impulsive, violent, manic, addictive, anxiety-related, obsessive, and compulsive behaviours and disorders.

In 1989, a large outbreak of a new, disabling, and in some cases deadly autoimmune illness called eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) was traced to one source of L-tryptophan. The bacterial culture used to synthesize tryptophan by a major Japanese manufacturer, Showa Denko KK, had been genetically modified several times to increase tryptophan production during the 1980s.

Along with the higher tryptophan concentrations in the modified culture media, the purification process had also been streamlined to reduce costs, and a purification step that used charcoal absorption to remove some impurities had been omitted.[5] The manufacturer maintained that this process modification allowed another bacterial metabolite through the purification, resulting in the presence of an end-product contaminant responsible for the toxic effects. As of 1996, Showa Denko had destroyed all modified organisms without FDA receipt of culture samples.The FDA was unable to publicly establish with certainty what contaminant was the cause of the outbreak.

Most tryptophan was banned from sale in the US in 1991, and other countries followed suit. Tryptophan from one manufacturer, of six, continued to be sold for manufacture of baby formulas. A Rutgers Law Journal article observed, “Political pressures have played a role in the FDA’s decision to ban L-tryptophan as well as its desire to increase its regulatory power over dietary supplements.”[8]

At the time of the ban the FDA did not know, or did not indicate, that EMS was caused by a contaminated batch, and yet even when the contamination was discovered and the purification process fixed, the FDA maintained that L-tryptophan was unsafe. In February 2001 the FDA loosened the restrictions on marketing (though not on importation), but still expressed the following concern:

"Based on the scientific evidence that is available at the present time, we cannot determine with certainty that the occurrence of EMS in susceptible persons consuming L-tryptophan supplements derives from the content of L-tryptophan, an impurity contained in the L-tryptophan, or a combination of the two in association with other, as yet unknown, external factors."

Uses as medication

5-Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a metabolite of tryptophan, has been suggested as a treatment for epilepsy and depression though clinical trials are inconclusive and lacking.

5-HTP readily crosses the blood brain barrier and in addition is rapidly decarboxylated to serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine or 5-HT). and therefore may useful for the treatment of depression. However serotonin has a relatively short half life since it is rapidly metabolized by monoamine oxidase therefore is likely to have limited efficacy. It is marketed in Europe for depression and other indications under brand names like Cincofarm and Tript-OH.

In the United States, 5-HTP does not require a prescription as it is covered under the Dietary Supplement Act. However, since the quality of dietary supplements are not regulated by the FDA, the quality of dietary and nutritional supplements tends to vary and there is no guarantee that the label accurately depicts what the bottle contains.[citation needed]

In recent years, compounding pharmacies and some mail-order supplement retailers have begun selling tryptophan to the general public. Tryptophan has also remained on the market as a prescription drug (Tryptan) which some psychiatrists continue to prescribe, particularly as an augmenting agent for people who are unresponsive to antidepressant drugs.[citation needed] Also, most health-food stores sell 5-HTP to get around the resulting artificially high cost of the amino acid itself. But several high quality sources of L-Tryptophan do exist, and are sold in many of the largest health food stores nationwide. Indeed, tryptophan has continued to be used in clinical and experimental studies employing human patients and subjects. Several of these studies suggest tryptophan can effectively treat the fall/winter depression variant of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).
 

(This information is fetched from wikipedia.org, and as such it is free to reuse)

About amino acids and their role in the body

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information is nutritional in nature and should not be construed as medical advice. This notice is required by the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.