Tyrosine for depression:
a double-blind trial
by
Gelenberg AJ, Wojcik JD, Falk WE,
Baldessarini RJ, Zeisel SH, Schoenfeld D, Mok GS
Department of Psychiatry,
University of Arizona, Tucson 85724.
J Affect Disord 1990 Jun; 19(2):125-32

ABSTRACT

We treated 65 outpatients with RDC major depression in a randomized, prospective, double-blind comparison of oral L-tyrosine, 100 mg/kg/day, imipramine, 2.5 mg/kg/day, or placebo for 4 weeks. Tyrosine increased and imipramine decreased 3-methoxy-4-hydroxyphenylglycol (MHPG) excretion significantly, but there was no evidence that tyrosine had antidepressant activity. The only side effect to achieve statistical significance was greater dry mouth with imipramine. MHPG excretion and plasma amino acid concentrations failed to predict or correlate with clinical improvement.

Dopamine
Imipramine
Noradrenaline
Amphetamines
Tyrosine depletion
Tyrosine hydroxylase
Noradrenaline and mood
Catecholamine depletion
Tyrosine, dopamine and depression

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