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From: shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Peter S. Shenkin)
Newsgroups: sci.med,alt.drugs,sci.bio,sci.chem
Subject: Re: Tryptophan Mystery Resolved
Message-ID: <1990Apr27.000315.2282@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu>
Date: 3 Jun 90 13:17:24 GMT
References: <1990Apr26.200027.29242@pmafire.UUCP>
Reply-To: shenkin@cunixf.cc.columbia.edu (Peter S. Shenkin)
Organization: Columbia University
Lines: 27

In article <1990Apr26.200027.29242@pmafire.UUCP> dukas@pmafire.UUCP (Steve Dukas) writes:
>
>Apparently the FDA has traced the danger back to a single producer of
>L-tryptophan in Japan.  The cause, as alot of rational folks suggested
>was from, contamination (or possibly an additive).
>
>I could not really understand how an essential amino acid, consumed even
>in "mega-doses", could cause such a drastic result.

The problem with L-tryptophan appears to be a contaminant;  nevertheless,
mild doses of sodium glutamate, the sodium salt of a naturally occurring amino 
acid, does really to cause intense headaches and discomfort in some people;  so-
called "Chinese restaurant syndrome." I don't recall whether glutamic acid
is "essential" for humans, in the sense that we don't manufacture it 
ourselves, and therefore have to consume our requirement, but it is
one of the twenty we need in order to assemble our proteins.

Just as Dukas couldn't understand how consuming tryptophan could have a
deleterious effect, I can't understand how MSG does;  but it really does, 
apparently.

	-P.

************************f*u*cn*rd*ths*u*cn*gt*a*gd*jb**************************
Peter S. Shenkin, Department of Chemistry, Barnard College, New York, NY  10027
(212)854-1418  shenkin@cunixc.cc.columbia.edu(Internet)  shenkin@cunixc(Bitnet)
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