Excessive dietary tryptophan enhances plasma lipid peroxidation in rats

High plasma cholesterol levels and plasma lipid peroxidation are associated with atherosclerosis. The effect of excessive dietary tryptophan on plasma lipid peroxidation was studied in rats fed a diet containing soybean oil (control), as well as an atherogenic diet, containing coconut oil and cholesterol. Feeding the atherogenic diet resulted in a 5-fold increment in plasma cholesterol concentration with no significant effect of the tryptophan supplementation. The plasma obtained from the hypercholesterolemic rats exhibited a 67% increased lipid oxidation (measured as thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) in comparison to normocholesterolemic plasma. Dietary tryptophan supplementation increased plasma lipid peroxidation by 9 and 21% in the control and in the hypercholesterolemic animals, respectively. Similarly, the excessive dietary tryptophan enhanced macrophage cholesterol esterification rate by 40 and 38% following cell incubation with the plasma obtained from the control and from the hypercholesterolemic animals, respectively. Since tryptophan is the precursor of serotonin we have measured urine concentration of 5-hydroxyindoleacetic acid (5HIAA), the metabolite of serotonin, and found 22 and 118% elevation in 5HIAA in the tryptophan fed control and hypercholesterolemic rats, respectively. The direct effect of tryptophan and serotonin on in vitro lipid peroxidation was also studied. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) was peroxidized by incubation with copper ions in the presence of tryptophan or serotonin. Serotonin was shown to enhance LDL peroxidation whereas tryptophan had no effect on LDL peroxidation. We conclude that excessive dietary tryptophan may be atherogenic since it enhanced plasma lipid peroxidation in hypercholesterolemic rats and increased macrophage uptake of plasma cholesterol. These effects are probably associated with increased plasma concentration of serotonin following the consumption of a tryptophan supplemented diet.