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Exp Clin Endocrinol Diabetes 1983; 82(6): 368-371
DOI: 10.1055/s-0029-1210300
Short Communication

© J. A. Barth Verlag in Georg Thieme Verlag KG Stuttgart · New York

Changes of the Plasma Tryptophan to Neutral Amino Acids Ratio in Formula-fed infants: Possible Effects on Brain Development

G. Dörner, Gerda Bewer, H. Lubs
  • Institute of Experimental Endocrinology and Clinic for Paediatrics, Humboldt University, Berlin, and Institute of Medical Genetics, Ernst Moritz Arndt University' Greifswald/GDR
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Publication History

1982

Publication Date:
17 July 2009 (online)

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Summary

The ratio of plasma concentrations of tryptophan to the sum of neutral amino acids (valine, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine and tyrosine) was found to be significantly lower in formula-fed infants as compared to breast-fed infants and to newborns at birth. This tryptophan to neutral amino acids ratio in the blood is thought to control the synthesis of serotonin in the brain. Serotonin deficiency in the developing brain based on a decreased plasma tryptophan to neutral amino acids ratio may contribute to developmental obesity and/or permanent changes of mental capacity and social adaptability as observed in human subjects who had been formula-fed as compared to those who had been breast-fed in neonatal life.