L-Tryptophan

Category: amino-acid

Aliases: Tryptophan supplement

Pharmacological Mechanism

Essential aromatic amino acid — precursor to serotonin (via tryptophan hydroxylase + AADC) and melatonin (via SNAT + HIOMT). Sleep + mood supplementation; competes with other large neutral amino acids for BBB transport, so empty-stomach + carb dosing improves CNS uptake.

Half-Life (t½)

PO: 2h

Dosing Guidelines

• PO: Typical 1000 mg (Range: 500–5000 mg)

Target Organ Systems

• nervous
• endocrine

Pathways It Modulates

• NAD+ / sirtuin / longevity axis (substrate) — de novo NAD+ synthesis precursor (kynurenine pathway)
• Tryptophan → serotonin → melatonin (substrate) — 5-HT + melatonin precursor

Chemical Identifiers

• PubChem CID: 6305
• Formula: C11H12N2O2
• Molecular weight: 204.23 g/mol
• InChIKey: QIVBCDIJIAJPQS-VIFPVBQESA-N
• SMILES: C1=CC=C2C(=C1)C(=CN2)C[C@@H](C(=O)O)N

References

• PMID 6865262