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Pprocesses That Couple Amino Acid Availability to Neurotransmitter Synthesis and Release

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Amino Acid Availability and Brain Function in Health and Disease

Part of the book series: NATO ASI Series ((ASIH,volume 20))

Abstract

Certain neurotransmitters are synthesized from precursor amino acids (e. g. catecholamines from tyrosine; serotonin [5-hydroxytryptamine or 5HT] from tryptophan) which must be obtained from the circulation. The concentrations of tyrosine and tryptophan, as well as of the other large neutral amino acids (LNAA) in plasma, are subject to wide variations (1, 2), changing not only when people or animals receive various drugs (3, 4) or the amino acids themselves (5, 6), but also in disease states affecting amino acid metabolism (7, 8), and, of major physiological relevance, in association with eating (1, 2) or with strenuous exercise (9, 10, 11). As will be described below, these variations often cause parallel changes in the levels of these amino acids within the monoaminergic neurons, and thereby may influence both neurotransmitter synthesis and even central neurotransmission (12).

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  1. Department of Brain and Cognitive Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, 02139, USA

    Ian N. Acworth, Matthew J. During & Richard J. Wurtman

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  1. Ian N. Acworth
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  1. Max-Planck-Institut für experimentelle Medizin, Hermann-Rein-Str. 3, 3400, Göttingen, Germany

    Gerald Huether

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Acworth, I.N., During, M.J., Wurtman, R.J. (1988). Pprocesses That Couple Amino Acid Availability to Neurotransmitter Synthesis and Release. In: Huether, G. (eds) Amino Acid Availability and Brain Function in Health and Disease. NATO ASI Series, vol 20. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73175-4_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-73175-4_11

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-73177-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-73175-4

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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