5-HYDROXYTRIPTOPHAN IN RHEUMATOLOGICAL DISEASES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
Abstract
5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) has been used to treat neurologic and psychiatric diseases, including depression, insomnia, sleep apnea, cerebellar ataxia, and chronic cepheadaches. On the other hand, it has been prescribed in a few rheumatic disorders including fibromyalgia, ostheoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis. Sleep disorders in syndromes accompanied by chronic pain have a significant negative impact on social aspects, provoke an earlier development of atherosclerotic lesions of the cardiovascular system, and can also lead to the development of depression and anxiety. There are 6 articles in this field, including 346 patients. Age varied from 40 to 51.1 years old, and female gender ranged from 22.2 to 84%. The 5-HTP dosage went from 60 mg to 4.000 mg a day. The study follow-up ranged from 4 weeks to 12 months. All of these articles demonstrated improvements in diverse fibromyalgia (FM) symptoms, including decreased pain intensity, improved sleep quality, improved mood and overall well-being, decreased anxiety, decreased fatigue, and decreased number of tender points. Presumably, the effect is associated with the metabolism of 5-HTP into serotonin, which is believed to decrease the sensitization of nerve endings associated with pain receptors. In addition, serotonin is a precursor of melatonin. Side effects were mild and varied from 8% to 30%. This review shows that 5-HTP is a promising and safe therapy for fibromyalgia. However, the data needs to be reproduced in future more extensive studies, including other rheumatic conditions.
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