ArticleAlcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)
Tryptophan in alcoholism treatment II: inhibition of the rat liver mitochondrial low Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, elevation of blood acetaldehyde concentration and induction of aversion to alcohol by combined administration of tryptophan and benserazide.
Article in Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire). The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 5 papers.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Who cites it
5 citing papers in PubMed, 10 citations in OpenAlex.
- Evidence Based on Sleep Disorder Exacerbating Postoperative Pain via Kynureninase.Drug design, development and therapy · 2026Article
- The Plasma [Kynurenine]/[Tryptophan] Ratio and Indoleamine 2,3-Dioxygenase: Time for Appraisal.International journal of tryptophan research : IJTR · 2019Review
- Elevation of Kynurenine Metabolites in Rat Liver and Serum: A Potential Additional Mechanism of the Alcohol Aversive and Anti-cancer Effects of Disulfiram?Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire) · 2016Article
- Tryptophan Metabolism in Rat Liver After Administration of Tryptophan, Kynurenine Metabolites, and Kynureninase Inhibitors.International journal of tryptophan research : IJTR · 2016Article
- Tryptophan in alcoholism treatment I: kynurenine metabolites inhibit the rat liver mitochondrial low Km aldehyde dehydrogenase activity, elevate blood acetaldehyde concentration and induce aversion to alcohol.Alcohol and alcoholism (Oxford, Oxfordshire)Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
3 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
aimsThe aims were to provide proofs of mechanism and principle by establishing the ability of the amino acid L-tryptophan (Trp) combined with the kynureninase inhibitor benserazide (BSZ) to inhibit the liver mitochondrial low K(m) aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH) activity after administration and in vivo and to induce aversion to alcohol.
methodsTrp, BSZ or both were administered to male Wistar rats and ALDH activity was determined both in vitro in liver homogenates and in vivo (by measuring acetaldehyde accumulation in blood after ethanol administration). Alcohol consumption was studied in an aversion model in rats and in alcohol-preferring C57 mice.
resultsCombined administration of Trp + BSZ, but neither compound alone, produced a strong inhibition of ALDH activity and an increase in blood acetaldehyde concentration after ethanol, and induced aversion to alcohol in rats and decreased preference in mice. Another kynureninase inhibitor, carbidopa, induced aversion to alcohol by itself, which was reversed by Trp co-administration.
conclusionsThe present results establish a prior art for the use of a combination of Trp plus BSZ in the treatment of alcoholism by aversion, which merits rapid clinical development.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.