Sharma R P, Shapiro L E, Kamath S K, Soll E A, Watanabe M D, Davis J M
Psychiatric Institute, University of Illinois at Chicago, 60612, USA.
Neuropsychobiology. 1997;35(1):5-10. doi: 10.1159/000119323.
Because brain serotonin levels depend directly on the amounts of exogenous tryptophan (TRP) available for its synthesis, amounts of TRP in the diet may be manipulated to alter the corresponding levels of serotonin. This technique has been used for probing the role of serotonin in mediating various forms of pyschopathology. In this study, 16 patients meeting DSM III-R criteria for schizophrenia (n = 14) or schizoaffective disorder (n = 2) were assessed for the effects of acute dietary TRP depletion under controlled conditions. The hypothesis was that lowering of serotonin would result in a diminution of 'positive' and/or 'negative' symptoms of psychotic disorders. No clinically or statistically significant improvement compared to baseline occurred when TRP depletion was imposed. Indeed, there was a statistically significant deterioration on measures of negative symptoms. The results are discussed in the context of the methodological issues.
由于大脑中血清素水平直接取决于可用于其合成的外源性色氨酸（TRP）的量，因此可以通过控制饮食中TRP的量来改变相应的血清素水平。该技术已被用于探究血清素在介导各种精神病理学形式中的作用。在本研究中，对16名符合精神分裂症（n = 14）或分裂情感性障碍（n = 2）DSM III-R标准的患者在受控条件下评估急性饮食性TRP耗竭的影响。假设是血清素水平降低将导致精神障碍的“阳性”和/或“阴性”症状减轻。当实施TRP耗竭时，与基线相比，未出现临床上或统计学上显著的改善。实际上，在阴性症状测量方面有统计学上显著的恶化。将结合方法学问题对结果进行讨论。
