Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31237183›Full record

Trial reportJournal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England)2019

The serotonin transporter gene-linked polymorphic region (5-HTTLPR) and the sleep-promoting effects of tryptophan: A randomized placebo-controlled crossover study.

Jens H van Dalfsen, C Rob Markus

Open access · hybridAbstract readRandomized Controlled Trial
In one paragraph

Trial report in Journal of psychopharmacology (Oxford, England), 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 11 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
11citing papers in PubMed
1.4field-weighted citation impact, top 17% 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

11 citing papers in PubMed, 17 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Role of the Amygdala in the Complex Relationship Between Sleep and Anxiety.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026
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  5. Effect of graduated drug therapy for moderate-to-severe chronic insomnia on the severity of disease: an observational study in Germany.Journal of clinical sleep medicine : JCSM : official publication of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine · 2025
    Observational
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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

2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.

Jens H van DalfsenDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.ORCID 0000-0002-4388-8447
C Rob MarkusDepartment of Neuropsychology and Psychopharmacology, Faculty of Psychology and Neuroscience, Maastricht University, Maastricht, the Netherlands.
Maastricht University · NL

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundThe low-expressive short (S) allele of a functional polymorphism (5-HTTLPR) within the serotonin (5-hydroxytriptamine; 5-HT) transporter gene (SLC6A4) has been associated with a reduced functioning of the brain 5-HT system relative to the long (L) allele. As a consequence, the S-allele is found to predispose individuals to a higher risk of sleep quality reduction and clinical insomnia.

aimsThe present study investigated whether subchronic pre-sleep tryptophan administration could compensate for this predisposition by improving sleep in 5-HTTLPR S-allele carriers.

methodsIn a double-blind placebo-controlled crossover design a sample of homozygous 5-HTTLPR S-allele (

resultsThe results support the sleep-promoting effects of tryptophan. Tryptophan improved objective sleep efficiency and objective wake after sleep onset irrespective of allelic variation. There was a marginally significant improvement of subjective sleep quality in the 5-HTTLPR S-allele group but not in the L-allele group following tryptophan relative to placebo intake. In contrast, a significantly poorer sleep quality in the S-allele as opposed to the L-allele group in the placebo condition was not observed in the tryptophan condition.

conclusionsTryptophan augmentation promises to be a valuable treatment strategy for sleep impairments related to genetic deficiencies in 5-HT functioning.

Indexed as

AdultAllelesBrainCross-Over StudiesDouble-Blind MethodFemaleGenotypeHumansMalePolymorphism, GeneticSerotoninSerotonin Plasma Membrane Transport ProteinsSleepSleep Initiation and Maintenance DisordersTryptophanYoung AdultSerotoninSerotonin Plasma Membrane Transport ProteinsSLC6A4 protein, humanTryptophan5-HTTLPRinsomniaserotoninSleeptryptophan

Identifiers

PMID31237183
PMCPMC6628462
OpenAlexW2954184358

What OpenQuestion holds

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LicenceCC BY-NC
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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.