title: The use of 5-hydroxytryptophan in a child with Lesch-Nyhan syndrome.
abstract: The effects of 5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP), a serotonin precursor, were studied in a boy with the Lesch-Nyhan syndrome. During the course of drug treatment, self-mutilation, crying, sleep state architecture, serum dopamine B-hydroxylase (DBH), and cerebrospinal fluid levels of 5-hydroxyindolylacetic acid and homovanillic acid were studied. Treatment with 5-HTP failed to affect this child's biting behavior. However, the drug significantly reduced irritability as measured by crying time. Moreover, 5-HTP may have affected sleep state architecture, making it more normal in character. Serum DBH levels were normal throughout the study. Neither the patient's mother nor his maternal grandmother showed a hypertensive response on the cold pressor test.
mesh_terms: D006916:5-Hydroxytryptophan / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003080:Cold Temperature; D003448:Crying; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase / Q000097:blood; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D006579:Heterozygote; D006719:Homovanillic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D006801:Humans; D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid; D007926:Lesch-Nyhan Syndrome / Q000134:cerebrospinal fluid / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000201:enzymology; D008297:Male; D012652:Self Mutilation / Q000188:drug therapy; D012890:Sleep / Q000187:drug effects; D013312:Stress, Physiological
chemical_list: D006897:Hydroxyindoleacetic Acid; D006916:5-Hydroxytryptophan; D004299:Dopamine beta-Hydroxylase; D006719:Homovanillic Acid