This page covers Tryptophan IV Therapy including its benefits. IV League provides mobile Tryptophan IV Therapy.
All creatures require the amino acid tryptophan (Trp), which is produced by bacteria, fungus, and plants and supplied to higher trophic levels.
Trp is a necessary substrate for the synthesis of a number of significant bioactive compounds in addition to being a component of protein synthesis.
Tryptophan, for instance, is a substrate for the production of melatonin and serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) in the pineal gland and brain, respectively. In vertebrates, central 5-HT integrates the neuroendocrine and behavioral components of the stress response.
As a result, impacts of dietary Trp on the neuroendocrine stress response have been documented in a wide range of taxa, from teleosts to humans. The processes behind this connection between Trp metabolism and the stress response are not completely understood, yet.
The majority of Trp in mammals undergo catabolization and transformation through the kynurenic pathway to produce bioactive compounds that may interact with the stress response.
Infections, stress, and alterations in the gut microbiome have all been demonstrated to divert Trp metabolism away from the pathway that produces 5-HT and toward this pathway. As a result, dietary variables, stress, and immunological function in humans have all been linked to pathological abnormalities in stress responsiveness, such as in depression.
Information on the kynurenic pathway and its interactions with central 5-HT signaling and the stress response in non-mammals, however, is fragmented and/or scarce.
The 5-HT system’s role in human behavior, emotion, and cognition has been investigated using dietary modifications that affect Trp availability to the brain. The dietary Trp content has also been found to influence teleost fishes’ endocrine and behavioral responses to stress.
With an emphasis on potential pathways that might mediate these effects, this review reviews the findings from earlier investigations on the impact of dietary Trp supplementation on the behavioral and neuroendocrine stress response.
We also put up an idea for how the diet can interact with the Trp metabolic pathways to increase fish stress tolerance.
Benefits of Tryptophan IV Therapy
Tryptophan has the following benefits:
- Helps induce natural sleep
- Reduces pain sensitivity
- Acts as a non-drug antidepressant
- Alleviates migraines
- Aids in reducing anxiety and tension
- Helps relieve some symptoms of alcohol-related body chemistry disorders and aid in the control of alcoholism
History of Tryptophan IV Therapy
Hopkins and Cole isolated tryptophan from casein protein in the early 1900s, and Ellinger and Flamand later identified its molecular structure. One of the eight essential amino acids is L-tryptophan, sometimes known as tryptophan (i.e., amino acids that cannot be synthesized in the human body and must be supplied by the diet).
Only the L isomer of each amino acid, including L-tryptophan, is employed in protein synthesis and is capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier. Although very tiny amounts are required for generally adequate nutrition, tryptophan has the least amount of tissue storage in humans and the lowest total concentration of any amino acid in the body.
The recommended daily allowance for adults is thought to be between 250 mg to 425 mg per day, which equates to a dietary consumption of 3.5 to 6.0 mg/kg of body weight per day. This is in contrast to the normal intake for many people, which is between 900 to 1000 mg per day.
Some common sources of tryptophan are oats, bananas, dried prunes, milk, tuna fish, cheese, bread, chicken, turkey, peanuts, and chocolate.
After being chemically produced for the first time in 1949, tryptophan was superseded by fermentation processes in the early 1980s, which considerably boosted the yields that could be obtained and enhanced the accessibility of tryptophan supplements.
The eosinophilia-myalgia syndrome (EMS) outbreak that followed, from roughly 1988 to 1989, was connected to the intake of synthetic tryptophan. Following an examination, the outbreak was located to be caused by a single manufacturer, the Showa Denka Company of Japan, and the modification in their techniques for synthesizing tryptophan was shown to be the root of the problem.
The EMS outbreak prompted the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the United States to impose a ban on all over-the-counter applications of tryptophan supplements, permitting only restricted, regulated applications of tryptophan made in the United States.
In 2001, the prohibition was lifted after the cause of the outbreak was found. Since then, several studies and clinical trials have been carried out safely.
What is the Mechanism of Action for Tryptophan IV?
The essential amino acid L-tryptophan (Trp) is the precursor of the monoaminergic neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT). Numerous studies have demonstrated that high dietary Trp suppresses aggressive behavior and post-stress plasma cortisol levels in vertebrates, including teleosts.
Despite the fact that the exact mechanisms are not fully understood, it is thought that these effects are mediated via the brain’s serotonergic system. Trp availability controls the rate of 5-HT production, but only in neurons of the hindbrain raphe region that primarily express isoform TPH2 of the tryptophan hydroxylase enzyme (TPH).
Trp availability is most likely not a limiting factor for 5-HT production in the peripheral as well as in brain regions expressing TPH1. Additionally, there are elements that influence Trp influx into the brain. One of these is acute stress, which, in contrast to long-term stress, may raise the availability of brain Trp.
Although the exact mechanisms causing this rise in brain Trp concentration in response to stress are not entirely known, sympathetic activation is believed to be a key factor. According to research in animals, a much bigger portion of the Trp pool enters the kynurenic route than is used for 5-HT production.
Tryptophan 2,3-dioxygenase (TDO) and indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase (IDO), two enzymes that are activated by glucocorticoids and pro-inflammatory cytokines, respectively, catalyze the first stage of this pathway.
Thus, persistent stress and infections can divert available Trp away from the kynurenic pathway and reduce the production of 5-HT. Accordingly, it has been proposed that dietary fatty acids may influence the metabolic destiny of Trp via influencing pro-inflammatory cytokines.
IDO was thought to exclusively be present in mammals, according to earlier findings, whereas TDO appears to have been conserved by evolution in the vertebrate linage. The role of IDO paralogues in the immunological and stress response in teleost fishes has not yet been fully elucidated, despite recent phylogenetic studies demonstrating their presence throughout the entire vertebrate linage.
With a focus on potential mechanisms that might be involved in mediating these effects, we discuss the findings from prior investigations on the effects of dietary Trp supplementation on behavior and neuroendocrinology in this review.
How is Tryptophan IV Used to Treat Medical Conditions?
- Tryptophan depletion was one of the first and most widely used methods for studying mood alterations, which are frequently associated with serotonergic pathways. In samples of healthy young men, several of the initial investigations discovered mild mood-lowering effects after acute tryptophan deprivation.
- Tryptophan depletion has been shown to alter a number of cognitive processes in both healthy people and those with a serotonergic vulnerability, in contrast to the typical lack of mood changes in healthy adults.
- Following tryptophan depletion, there are numerous learning and memory impairments that have been well-documented. The findings that are most trustworthy are those that show abnormalities in declarative episodic memory’s delayed recall and memory consolidation processes.
- There is a long history of employing tryptophan alterations in behavioral research to evaluate social behavior, changes in aggression, and impulsivity that may be partly influenced by serotonin synthesis.
- Depletion of tryptophan has also been linked to impairments in episodic memory, stimulus-reward learning, visual discrimination, and cognitive flexibility, among other cognitive functions.
- In numerous clinical investigations, tryptophan has been shown to be as effective as tricyclic antidepressants. In one study, the effects of tryptophan and amitriptyline, both separately and together, were all found to be more effective than placebo. Tricyclic antidepressants, however, have been the subject of additional research with varying degrees of success in treating depressed symptoms.
- Tryptophan has been used clinically to treat a wide range of conditions, including chronic fatigue, pain, insomnia, bulimia, premenstrual dysphoric disorder, and attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
- Additionally used to treat sleep disturbances, tryptophan is hypothesized to work through melatonin processes to generate its therapeutic effects.
- Tryptophan (50 mg/kg/day) has been used in conjunction with a high-carbohydrate diet in individuals who are trying to quit smoking, and it has been shown to improve abstinence or lower the number of cigarettes smoked by lowering anxiety and the intensity of withdrawal symptoms.
Intravenous vs Oral Supplementation
Following being administered intravenously to healthy participants, the pharmacokinetics of L-tryptophan (5 g and 7.5 g) were examined, and the outcomes were compared to those obtained after oral administration (0.7 g-3.5 g).
The data obtained after oral administration of L-tryptophan point to saturability of both the apparent volume of distribution and the total body clearance. The pharmacokinetics of tryptophan following oral treatment of 25 and 50 mg kg-1 and intravenous injection of 5 and 7.5 g were comparable (i.e., 1.75 g and 3.5 g).
When the same participants were evaluated again 2-4 weeks later, similar pharmacokinetic results were reported after intravenous tryptophan.
Molecular Structure of Tryptophan IV
The molecular formula of tryptophan is C11H12N2O2 and its molecular weight is 204.22. IUPAC name of Tryptophan is (2S)-2-amino-3-(1H-indol-3-yl) propanoic acid.
