Abstract
Until the early seventies, it was generally believed that normal brain function would be unaffected by the metabolic changes associated with the ingestion of different foods. This assumption was effectively undermined by the finding that the protein-to-carbohydrate ratio of a meal did affect the brain concentration of one particular neuro-transmitter, serotonin. The following theory was proposed to explain this phenomenon: the ingestion of carbohydrates stimulates the release of insulin. This insulin release causes an increase in the uptake of amino acids into tissues. Because this increase is less for tryptophan, there is an increase in plasma of tryptophan relative to the other large neutral amino acids (LNAA: tryptophan, phenylalanine, tyrosine, valine, leucine and isoleucine). The LNAA in the blood compete for a common transport mechanism in order to cross the blood-brain barrier. The relative increase in plasma tryptophan results in an increased occupation of the transport mechanism with tryptophan and, therefore, an increase in the brain tryptophan levels. Because tryptophan is a rate limiting substrate for serotonin synthesis, the increase in brain tryptophan leads to an increase in brain serotonin.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Huether, G. (ed.). Amino Acid Availability and Brain Function in Health and Disease. NATO-ASI-Series, Series H: Cell Biology, Vol. 20, Springer Verlag, Berlin, 1988.
Holder, M.D., Huether, G. (1990). Role of prefeedings, plasma amino acid ratios and brain serotonin levels in carbohydrate and protein selection. Physiology and Behaviour, 47, 113–119.
Badawy, A.A.B., Evans, M. (1981). Inhibition of rat liver Trp-pyrrolase activity and elevation of brain Trp concentration by administration of antidepressants. Biochem. Pharmacol. 30, 1211–1216.
During, M.J., Freese, A., Heyes, M.P., Swartz, K.J., Markey, S.P., Roth, R.H. and Martin, J.B. (1989). Neuroactive metabolites of L-tryptophan, serotonin and quinolinic acid, in striatal extracellular fluid. FEBS-Letters, 247, 438–444.
Werner-Felmayer, G, Werner, ER, Fuchs, D., Hausen, A., Reibnegger, G. and Wachter, H. (1989). Characteristics of interferon induced tryptophan metabolism in human cells in vitro. Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1012, 140–147.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1991 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Huether, G. (1991). Amino Acid Availability and Brain Function in Health and Disease. In: Neuhoff, V., Friend, J. (eds) Cell to Cell Signals in Plants and Animals. NATO ASI Series, vol 51. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76470-7_24
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-76470-7_24
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-76472-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-642-76470-7
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive