Abstract
In the last few years, Indol-3-pyruvic acid (IPA) has been subjected to 5 pilot clinical trials in volunteers and a phase II study on patients affected by anxiety, with or without sleep problems. Overall, results indicated a very good safety profile, relief from anxiety and a better quality of sleep in patients treated with IPA. Moreover, the drug showed no withdrawal signs, but positive effects on mood, improving feelings of relaxation, calmness and happiness. The mechanism of action of IPA, depending on increased turnover of some indoles in the CNS, appears clearly distinct from that of benzodiazepines, suggesting that the drug might be used in the treatment of symptoms of mild anxiety and stress experienced by busy and anxious people.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Bacciottini L., Pellegrini-Giampietro D.E., Bongianni F., De Luca G., Beni M, Politi V., and Moroni F., 1987, Biochemical and behavioural studies on indole-pyruvic acid: a keto-analogue of tryptophan, Pharmacol. Res. Communic. 19:803–817.
Biagini G., Merlo-Pich E., Carani C., Marrama P., Gustafsson J.A., Fuxe K,, and Agnati L.F., 1993, Indole-pyruvic acid, a tryptophan ketoanalogue, antagonizes the endocrine but not the behavioral effects of repeated stress in a model of depression, Biol. Psych. 33:712–719.
Bruno V., Canonico P.L., Aronica E., Nicoletti F., and Scapagnini U., 1991, Modulation of excitatory amino acid receptors by indolpyruvic acid, Neurosci. Res. Commun. 8:137–145.
Ferretti C., Blengio M., Ghi P., and Genazzani E., 1990, Differential effects of indolepyruvic acid and 5-hydrox-ytryptophan on indole metabolism in the pineal gland of the rat during the light-dark cycle, Eur. J. Pharmacol. 187:345–356.
Lavaggi M.V., Politi V., De Luca G., and Gorini A., 1987, Effects of Indol-3-ylpyruvic acid on Tryptophan pyrrolase activity “in vitro” and “in vivo”, in: Progress in Tryptophan and Serotonin Research 1986 (H.G. Schlossberger et al. eds.), pp. 51–54, De Gruyter and Co., Berlin.
Politi V., D’Alessio S., Di Stazio G., and De Luca G., 1996, Antioxidant properties of Indol-3-ylpyruvic acid, in: Recent Advances in Tryptophan Research (G. Allegri Filippini et al. eds.), pp. 291–298, Plenum Press, New York.
Politi V., Lavaggi M.V., Di Stazio G., and Margonelli A., 1991, Indol-3-ylpyruvic acid as a direct precursor of kynurenic acid, Adv. Exptl. Med. Biol. 294:515–518.
Ruggieri M., Merlo-Pich E., Zini I., Fuxe K., and Agnati L.F., 1990, Indole-pyruvic acid increases 5-hydrox-yindoleacetic acid levels in the cerebrospinal fluid and fronto-parietal cortex of the rat. A microdyaly-sis study, Acta Physiol. Scand. 138:97–98.
Russi P., Carlà V., and Moroni F., 1989, Indolpyruvic acid administration increases the brain content of kynurenic acid. Is this a new avenue to modulate excitatory amino acid receptors in vivo? Biochem. Pharmacol. 38:2405–2409.
Shamsi Z., Stanley N., Yoon J., and Hindmarch I., 1996, Effects of three doses of 3-indole pyruvic acid on subjective and objective measures of sleep and early morning performance. Human Psychopharmacol. 11:235–239.
Silvestri R., Mento G., Raffaele M., De Luca G., Buttini G., Casella C., Tisano A., De Domenico P, Di Rosa A.E., and Di Perri R., 1991, Indol-3-ylpyruvic acid as a possible hypnotic agent in insomniac subjects, J. Intl. Med. Res. 19:403–409.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer Science+Business Media New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Politi, V., De Luca, G., Gallai, V., Puca, Comin, M. (1999). Clinical Experiences with the Use of Indole-3-Pyruvic Acid. In: Huether, G., Kochen, W., Simat, T.J., Steinhart, H. (eds) Tryptophan, Serotonin, and Melatonin. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 467. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4709-9_29
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-4709-9_29
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-7133-5
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-4709-9
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive