Evidence map›Paper›PMID 30188382›Full record

Trial reportPsychosomatic medicine2019

The Effects of Tryptophan Enhancement and Depletion on Plasma Catecholamine Levels in Healthy Individuals.

Stephen H Boyle, Beverly H Brummett, Cynthia M Kuhn, John C Barefoot, Ilene C Siegler, Redford B Williams, Anastasia Georgiades

Abstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Psychosomatic medicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 3 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
3citing papers in PubMed
0.2field-weighted citation impact, top 53% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

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.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

3 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The clinical value of aquaporin-4 in children with hand, foot, and mouth disease and the effect of magnesium sulfate on its expression: a prospective randomized clinical trial.European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases : official publication of the European Society of Clinical Microbiology · 2019
    Trial
  2. Plasma and ovarian metabolomic responses to chronic stress in female mice.Metabolomics : Official journal of the Metabolomic Society · 2025
    Article
  3. Review
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

7 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Stephen H BoyleFrom the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences (Boyle, Brummett, Barefoot, Siegler, Williams, Georgiades), Duke University School of Medicine, Durham, North Carolina; and Department of Pharmacology and Cancer Biology (Kuhn), Duke University Medical Center, Durham, North Carolina.
Beverly H Brummett
Cynthia M Kuhn
John C Barefoot
Ilene C Siegler
Redford B Williams
Anastasia Georgiades
Duke University · US

Funding

The Genetics Of Biobehavioral Risk Factors For CVDP01HL036587 · NHLBI · DUKE UNIVERSITY · PI KRAUS, WILLIAM E · 1986 to 2020
$35.9M
NHLBI NIH HHS P01 HL036587
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveCentral nervous system (CNS) serotonin (5-HT) exerts both excitatory and inhibitory effects on the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) in animals. In this study, we examine the effects of tryptophan enhancement and depletion on plasma catecholamine levels in humans.

methodsThe total sample consisted of 164 healthy men and women who were tested for 2 days. Seventy-nine participants were randomized to a tryptophan enhancement condition and 85 to a tryptophan depletion condition. Both protocols consisted of a "sham day," followed by an "active day." Blood samples for assessment of plasma norepinephrine and epinephrine levels were collected before and after tryptophan enhancement/depletion. Data were analyzed using general linear models. Separate analyses were conducted for each study arm and for each measure.

resultsIn the depletion condition, both epinephrine (F(5,330) = 2.69, p = .021) and norepinephrine (F(5,335) = 2.79, p = .018) showed small increases on active versus "sham" depletion days. There were also significant day by time interactions for epinephrine (F(3,171) = 39.32, p < .0001) and norepinephrine (F(3,195) = 31.09, p < .0001) levels in the enhancement arm. Tryptophan infusion resulted in a marked increase in epinephrine (Premean = 23.92 (12.23) versus Postmean = 81.57 (62.36)) and decrease in norepinephrine (Premean = 257.2 (106.11) versus Postmean = 177.04 (87.15)), whereas levels of both catecholamines were stable on the "sham day."

conclusionsCNS 5-HT exerts both inhibitory and excitatory effects on SNS activity in humans, potentially due to stimulation of CNS 5-HT receptors that have shown to have inhibitory (5-HT1A) and excitatory (5-HT1A and/or 5-HT2) SNS effects in animal models.

Indexed as

AdultEpinephrineFemaleHumansMaleMiddle AgedNorepinephrineSerotoninSerotonin AgentsSympathetic Nervous SystemTryptophanEpinephrineNorepinephrineSerotoninSerotonin AgentsTryptophan

Identifiers

PMID30188382
PMCPMC6825325
OpenAlexW2890349902

What OpenQuestion holds

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Registered trials

None linked

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.