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Tryptophan follows three metabolic fates:
Tryptophan is first deaminated to 3-indolepyruvate. It is then decarboxylated to indole acetaldehyde by indolepyruvate decarboxylase. This latter compound is transformed to tryptophol by alcohol dehydrogenase
Gut microbiota, which are the microorganisms living in our digestive tracts, have the ability to directly metabolize tryptophan, an essential amino acid. This process affects the availability of tryptophan in the host's body. Specifically, about 4% to 6% of tryptophan is transformed by gut bacteria into various compounds such as indican, indole or indole acid derivatives, skatole, and tryptamine.
Understanding how gut bacteria metabolize tryptophan at the molecular level is relatively straightforward. However, identifying the specific metabolites produced by these bacteria is more complex. This complexity arises from the diverse and intricate nature of the microbial communities present in the gut.
The involved processes are:
Decarboxylation of Tryptophan to Tryptamine means that this process is carried out by specific bacteria such as Clostridium sporogenes and Ruminococcus gnavus. They remove a carboxyl group from tryptophan, converting it into tryptamine.
Conversion to Indole-3-Pyruvic Acid means that Tryptophanase converts tryptophan into indole pyruvic acid. This compound then undergoes decarboxylation to produce indole acetaldehyde, which is a precursor to tryptophol and indole acetic acid. Indole acetic acid can be further transformed into skatole by bacteria like Lactobacillus, Clostridium, and Bacteroides.
Production of Indole and Indican means that Indole-3-pyruvic acid can also be converted into indole and indican
Metabolism into Trans-3-indoleacrylic acid (IAcA) means that Indole-3-Pyruvic Acid can be broken down into Trans-3-indoleacrylic acid (IAcA). This compound can then be further converted into Indolyl-3-acryloylglycine when a glycine molecule is incorporated.
These processes highlight the complex interactions and transformations that occur within the gut microbiota, influencing the host's metabolism and health.
Tryptophan metabolism in the gut microbiota can be regulated by the natural substances Fucose, Ginsenoside Rg1 / Ginsenoside, Fructooligosaccharides (FOS) Oligofructose / Oligofructan, Ginseng polysaccharides, Fuzhuan brick tea polysaccharide, yellow wine polyphenolic compound, shenling baizhu san, flammulina velutipes polysaccharides and by the chemical drugs Rifaximin, diallyl disulfide, fisetin
Natural substances such as Ginsenoside Rg1 / Ginsenoside (), Fucose (), Fuzhuan brick tea polysaccharide () and Shenling baizhu san () could alleviate ulcerative colitis by modulating the gut microbiota and microbial Tryptophan Metabolism.
For example, the Odoribacter splachnicus is involved in tryptophan metabolism
see also:
Endobiotics
Gut microbiota & Tryptophan metabolites
Kynurenine pathway
Tryptophan (TRP)
Tryptophan metabolites