Skip to content

Tryptophan depletion, serotonin and depression: Where do we stand?

Tryptophan depletion is a widely used model to study mechanisms related to the serotonin system in the pathophysiology and treatment of depression. There is compelling evidence that tryptophan depletion primarily and selectively affects serotonergic transmission.

Behavioral data in healthy controls with and without genetic risk for depression and in patient populations during the symptomatic phase of depression and at referral suggest an abnormality of serotonin function in depression and that antidepressants can compensate for the underlying deficit.

Tryptophan depletion may be a useful tool to build more integrative models of depression pathophysiology that account for neurobiological systems beyond monoamines. Recent studies combining tryptophan depletion with genetic variables may provide an important approach to studying gene/environment interactions using candidate genes to define endophenotypes, which will ultimately improve the diagnostic categories currently in use and help create more advanced models for understanding the neurobiology of depression.

This could lead to the development of truly novel treatment approaches for depression.

Tryptophan Depletion, Serotonin, and Depression: Where Do We Stand?

Powered by BetterDocs

Close Popup

Bye bye booze needs a few cookies, too.

However, we try only to activate as few as possible technically necessary cookies so that your visit to this site cannot be tracked as far as possible by third parties. We do not share any information about your visit with anyone.

But even we we do need a few - e.g. to display this legal notice or to care for that you do not have to log in again for each page or see this popup again for each page.

As soon as you click on an external link or video, cookies may be set by the operators of these sites, which we cannot influence. Learn more on our privacy page.


Close Popup