Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Gleissenthall, Gabriele v
• Geisler, Simon
• Malik, Peter
• Kemmler, Georg
• Benicke, Hannah
• Fuchs, Dietmar
• Mechtcheriakov, Sergei

Titel

Tryptophan Metabolism in Post-Withdrawal Alcohol-Dependent Patients

Ist Teil von

• Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford), 2014-05, Vol.49 (3), p.251-255

Ort / Verlag

Oxford: Oxford University Press

Erscheinungsjahr

2014

Link zum Volltext

Quelle

Applied Social Sciences Index & Abstracts (ASSIA)

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• Aims: The aim of the study was to investigate the parameters of tryptophan and phenylalanine metabolism and their associations to immune system activation and to behavioural symptoms during medium-term withdrawal (4–12 weeks of abstinence) in alcohol-dependent patients. Methods: Biochemical assays and clinical assessments at the beginning of treatment (fourth week of alcohol abstinence in average) and prior to the discharge after 8 weeks of treatment. Results: Kynurenine to tryptophan ratio (Kyn/Trp) slightly correlated with neopterin levels in early post-withdrawal period (Week 4 of abstinence) but this association disappeared after 12 weeks of abstinence. Phenylalanine and tyrosine concentrations as well as phenylalanine to tyrosine ratio (Phe/Tyr) decreased between Weeks 4 and 12 of abstinence. Kynurenine and Kyn/Trp increased significantly at 12th week of abstinence when compared with the beginning of the study (Week 4 of abstinence). At Week 12, Kyn/Trp significantly correlated with such behavioural symptoms as fatigue, irritability and sleep disturbances. Conclusions: Tryptophan breakdown in early stages may be influenced by the increased activity of indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase but the increase of Kyn/Trp between Weeks 4 and 12 of abstinence seems to be independent of immune changes and correlates with behavioural symptoms in later stages of the post-withdrawal course. A possible role of kynurenine metabolites in mediation of the increased stress sensibility in post-withdrawal alcohol-dependent patients is discussed.