ArticleTranslational psychiatry2021
Effects of neuroactive metabolites of the tryptophan pathway on working memory and cortical thickness in schizophrenia.
Article in Translational psychiatry, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 5 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 5 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 40 citations in OpenAlex.
- Kynurenine pathway dysregulation in cognitive impairment and dementia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.GeroScience · 2026Pooled it
- Importance of the dysregulation of the kynurenine pathway on cognition in schizophrenia: a systematic review of clinical studies.European archives of psychiatry and clinical neuroscience · 2023Pooled it
- Insulin effects on core neurotransmitter pathways involved in schizophrenia neurobiology: a meta-analysis of preclinical studies. Implications for the treatment.Molecular psychiatry · 2023Pooled it
- The tryptophan catabolite or kynurenine pathway in schizophrenia: meta-analysis reveals dissociations between central, serum, and plasma compartments.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- The relationship between immune and cognitive dysfunction in mood and psychotic disorder: a systematic review and a meta-analysis.Molecular psychiatry · 2022Pooled it
- Kynurenine Pathway Metabolite Levels in Drug Naïve and Risperidone Treated Schizophrenia: Insights From Systemic and Post-Mortem Brain Tissue Analysis.Journal of neurochemistry · 2026Article
- Molecules of mood: the integrated molecular transducers of exercise's antidepressant effects.Molecular genetics and genomics : MGG · 2026Review
- Nutrition and the gut microbiome: a symbiotic dialogue influencing health and disease.Frontiers in nutrition · 2026Review
- Neurochemical Insights into the Role of Tryptophan Metabolites and Kynurenine Pathway in Insomnia and its Psychological and Neurological Comorbidities.Molecular neurobiology · 2025Review
- Cognitive impairment and pain in depression: The mediating role of the kynurenine pathway.World journal of psychiatry · 2025Article
- A history of suicide attempts among individuals with schizophrenia is associated with tryptophan degradation via the salivary kynurenine pathway.BMC psychiatry · 2025Article
- Review
- Article
- Multi-kingdom microbial changes and their associations with the clinical characteristics in schizophrenia patients.Translational psychiatry · 2025Article
- The Role of Gastrointestinal Dysbiosis and Fecal Transplantation in Various Neurocognitive Disorders.Cureus · 2024Review
- Identification of serum metabolites associated with polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs) exposure in papillary thyroid carcinoma: a case-control study.Environmental geochemistry and health · 2024Article
- Elevated serum kynurenic acid in individuals with first-episode psychosis and insufficient response to antipsychotics.Schizophrenia (Heidelberg, Germany) · 2024Article
- Use of the Chinese version of the MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery to assess cognitive functioning in individuals with high risk for psychosis, first-episode schizophrenia and chronic schizophrenia: a systematic review and meta-analysis.The Lancet regional health. Western Pacific · 2024Review
- Multiomics Analyses Reveal Microbiome-Gut-Brain Crosstalk Centered on Aberrant Gamma-Aminobutyric Acid and Tryptophan Metabolism in Drug-Naïve Patients with First-Episode Schizophrenia.Schizophrenia bulletin · 2024Article
- Intestinal tryptophan metabolism in disease prevention and swine production.Animal nutrition (Zhongguo xu mu shou yi xue hui) · 2023Review
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
14 authors at 3 institutions in 3 countries.
Funding
Abstract
A number of tryptophan metabolites known to be neuroactive have been examined for their potential associations with cognitive deficits in schizophrenia. Among these metabolites, kynurenic acid (KYNA), 5-hydroxyindole (5-HI), and quinolinic acid (QUIN) are documented in their diverse effects on α-7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor (α7nAChR) and/or N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor (NMDAR), two of the receptor types thought to contribute to cognitive impairment in schizophrenia. In this study, serum levels of KYNA, 5-HI, and QUIN were measured in 195 patients with schizophrenia and in 70 healthy controls using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry; cognitive performance in MATRICS Consensus Cognitive Battery and cortical thickness measured by magnetic resonance imaging were obtained. Patients with schizophrenia had significantly lower serum KYNA (p < 0.001) and QUIN (p = 0.02) levels, and increased 5-HI/KYNA (p < 0.001) and QUIN/KYNA ratios (p < 0.001) compared with healthy controls. Multiple linear regression showed that working memory was positively correlated with serum 5-HI levels (t = 2.10, p = 0.04), but inversely correlated with KYNA concentrations (t = -2.01, p = 0.05) in patients. Patients with high 5-HI and low KYNA had better working memory than other subgroups (p = 0.01). Higher 5-HI levels were associated with thicker left lateral orbitofrontal cortex (t = 3.71, p = 2.94 × 10
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.