Cerebrospinal fluid levels of kynurenine pathway metabolites in patients with eating disorders: relation to clinical and biochemical variable

Biological Psychiatry
M A DemitrackP W Gold

Abstract

In brain, most L-tryptophan is metabolized to indoleamines, whereas in systemic tissues L-tryptophan is catabolized to kynurenine pathway metabolites. Among these latter compounds are: quinolinic acid, an N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor agonist; kynurenic acid, an antagonist of excitatory amino acid receptors that also reduces quinolinic acid-mediated neurotoxicity; and L-kynurenine, a possible convulsant. Because the metabolism of L-tryptophan through the kynurenine pathway is dependent upon adequate nutrition, we sought to determine whether the impaired nutrition characteristic of eating-disordered patients might be associated with specific disturbances in this metabolic pathway. Cerebrospinal fluid levels of L-tryptophan, quinolinic acid, kynurenic acid, L-kynurenine, and 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid were measured in medication-free female patients meeting DSM-III-R criteria for either anorexia nervosa (n = 10) or normal-weight bulimia nervosa (n = 22), studied at varying stages of nutritional recovery. Eight healthy, normal-weight females served as a comparison group. Cerebrospinal fluid levels of kynurenic acid were significantly reduced in underweight anorectics, compared to normal females, but returned to normal values with ...Continue Reading

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Citations

Jan 31, 2008·Amino Acids·Michal P TurskiWaldemar A Turski
May 22, 2003·Acta Neurologica Scandinavica·J IłzeckaW A Turski
Sep 23, 2008·The International Journal of Eating Disorders·Stefan EhrlichUlrike Lehmkuhl
Mar 23, 2005·Biological Psychiatry·Evelyn AttiaB Timothy Walsh
Jul 10, 1998·FASEB Journal : Official Publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology·M P HeyesS P Markey
Jan 1, 2009·International Journal of Tryptophan Research : IJTR·Yiquan Chen, Gilles J Guillemin

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