AMINO ACIDS AND BEHAVIOR IN ALCOHOLISM

我们打算对酒精与酒精之间的关系进行长期评估 消耗，氨基酸的修饰，这些氨基酸是 中性粒细胞递质和3种行为类型，即抑郁、自杀和 酗酒患者的攻击性。 我们最近观察到，与非抑郁的酗酒者相比 与对照组相比，抑郁的酗酒者显著降低了 血浆色氨酸到氨基酸与其共用同一运输载体 进入大脑(色氨酸比率)。这一比例已被证明可以预测 大脑中5-羟色胺的浓度。目前尚不清楚氨基是否 在禁欲一段时间后，酸性修饰就会消失或持续存在。我们 将进行旨在阐明这一问题的研究。如果是生化的 持续的变化，它们可能代表异常增加受影响的 个人易患抑郁症，并应提醒我们保持 在治疗这些患者时提高了警惕。 我们得到的初步数据显示，低谷与 色氨酸比率、抑郁和自杀企图。因为协会有 最近发现了自杀和攻击性倾向之间的关系，因为 这两种类型的行为都与脑脊液中5-羟色胺水平降低有关 主要代谢产物，我们研究了氨基酸修饰之间的关系 以及酗酒者的攻击性表现。曾表现出 据观察，暴力行为的色氨酸比例低于 没有暴力史的病人。我们的研究需要扩大， 在更大数量的患者中进行更广泛的 精神评估和长期跟踪评估。 识别导致抑郁或抑郁的生物因素 自杀和攻击性行为很重要，因为心理和 这些类型的行为的社会代价是巨大的。此外，它还将 重要的是要知道，某些形式的精神疾病会帮助 对氨基酸进行相对无创的治疗 补充。

We intend to do long term assessments of relationships between alcohol consumption, modifications in amino acids which are the precursors of neutrotransmitters, and 3 types of behavior i.e., depression, suicide and aggression in alcoholic patients. We have recently observed that, when compared with non-depressed alcoholics and controls, depressed alcoholics had significantly decreased ratios of plasma tryptophan to amino acids sharing with it the same transport carrier into the brain (tryptophan ratio). This ratio has been shown to predict the brain serotonin concentration. It is not presently known whether amino acid modifications disappear after a period of abstinence or persist. We will conduct studies aimed at elucidating this question. If biochemical changes persisted they could represent anomalies increasing the affected individuals' vulnerability to depression and should alert us to maintain heightened vigilance when treating these patients. We obtained preliminary data showing an association between a low tryptophan ratio depression and suicide attempts. Because associations had been found recently between suicidal and aggressive tendencies and because both types of behavior have been linked to lowered CSF levels of serotonin main metabolite, we studied relationships between amino acid modifications and manifestations of aggression in alcoholics. Patients who had exhibited violent behavior were observed to have tryptophan ratios lower than patients with no history of violence. Our studies need to be expanded and carried out in larger number of patients subjected to more extensive psychiatric assessments and to long term follow-up evaluations. The identification of biological factors contributing to depression or suicidal and aggressive behavior is important because the psychological and social costs of these types of behavior are great. In addition, it would be important to know that certain forms of mental disease would lend themselves to the relatively atraumatic therapy of amino acid supplementation.