Tryptophan overloading activates brain regions involved with cognition, mood and anxiety



Document title: Tryptophan overloading activates brain regions involved with cognition, mood and anxiety
Journal: Anais da Academia Brasileira de Ciencias
Database: PERIÓDICA
System number: 000418088
ISSN: 0001-3765
Authors: 1
2
2
2
2
1
Institutions: 1Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Departamento de Psicobiologia, Sao Paulo. Brasil
2Universidade Federal de Sao Paulo, Departamento de Biociencias, Santos, Sao Paulo. Brasil
Year:
Season: Mar
Volumen: 89
Number: 1
Pages: 273-284
Country: Brasil
Language: Inglés
Document type: Artículo
Approach: Experimental, aplicado
English abstract Tryptophan is the only precursor of serotonin and mediates serotonergic activity in the brain. Previous studies have shown that the administration of tryptophan or tryptophan depletion significantly alters cognition, mood and anxiety. Nevertheless, the neurobiological alterations that follow these changes have not yet been fully investigated. The aim of this study was to verify the effects of a tryptophan-enriched diet on immunoreactivity to Fos-protein in the rat brain. Sixteen male Wistar rats were distributed into two groups that either received standard chow diet or a tryptophan-enriched diet for a period of thirty days. On the morning of the 31st day, animals were euthanized and subsequently analyzed for Fos-immunoreactivity (Fos-ir) in the dorsal and median raphe nuclei and in regions that receive serotonin innervation from these two brain areas. Treatment with a tryptophan-enriched diet increased Fos-ir in the prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, paraventricular hypothalamus, arcuate and ventromedial hypothalamus, dorsolateral and dorsomedial periaqueductal grey and dorsal and median raphe nucleus. These observations suggest that the physiological and behavioral alterations that follow the administration of tryptophan are associated with the activation of brain regions that regulate cognition and mood/anxiety-related responses
Disciplines: Biología
Keyword: Fisiología animal,
Neurobiología,
Triptofano,
Serotonina,
Inmunorreactividad,
Cerebro
Keyword: Animal physiology,
Neurobiology,
Tryptophan,
Serotonin,
Immunoreactivity,
Brain
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