Eriksson T, Lidberg L
Department of Pharmacology, Göteborg University, Sweden.
Psychol Med. 1997 Mar;27(2):477-81. doi: 10.1017/s0033291796003935.
Aggression has been suggested to be related to abnormal brain 5-HT activity. This amine is synthesized in brain from tryptophan, which is transported through the blood-brain barrier in competition with other amino acids. The relationship between tryptophan and its endogenous amino acid competitors in plasma might thus influence the availability of tryptophan in the brain and consequently brain 5-HT activity.
Plasma amino acids were determined in 89 offenders who had committed various violent and non-violent crimes and in 14 healthy controls.
Both tryptophan and its competitors were higher in offenders who had committed violent crimes compared both with non-violent offenders and with controls. No difference was, however, seen in the relationship between tryptophan and its competitors.
The results support the contention that violent behaviour is related to biochemical deviations but could not explain a possible decreased brain 5-HT activity.
攻击行为被认为与大脑5-羟色胺（5-HT）活性异常有关。这种胺类物质在大脑中由色氨酸合成，色氨酸通过血脑屏障时会与其他氨基酸竞争。因此，血浆中色氨酸与其内源性氨基酸竞争者之间的关系可能会影响色氨酸在大脑中的可用性，进而影响大脑5-HT活性。
测定了89名犯有各种暴力和非暴力罪行的罪犯以及14名健康对照者的血浆氨基酸。
与非暴力罪犯和对照组相比，实施暴力犯罪的罪犯体内色氨酸及其竞争者的含量均较高。然而，色氨酸与其竞争者之间的关系并无差异。
结果支持暴力行为与生化异常有关的观点，但无法解释大脑5-HT活性可能降低的原因。
