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Nutritional Neurosciences
Research Communication

Dietary L-Lysine Deficiency Increases Stress-Induced Anxiety and Fecal Excretion in Rats

Ajinomoto Company Incorporated, Institute of Life Sciences, 210-8681 Kawasaki, Japan

¹To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: miroslav_smriga{at}ajinomoto.com.

Little is known about the psychobehavioral consequences of a dietary deficiency of the amino acid, L-lysine. This report demonstrates that a 4-d long L-lysine deficiency in rats interfered with the normal circadian release of the neurotransmitter serotonin, but not dopamine, measured by in vivo microdialysis in the central nucleus of the amygdala. L-Lysine deficiency was induced by feeding rats a L-lysine–deficient diet. Controls were pair-fed a L-lysine-sufficient diet. Footshock stress-induced anxiety, measured in an elevated plus-maze paradigm, and wrap-restraint stress-stimulated fecal excretion were significantly greater in the L-lysine–deficient rats than in the controls. We conclude that a severe deficiency of dietary L-lysine enhances serotonin release in the amygdala, with subsequent changes in psychobehavioral responses to stress.

KEY WORDS: • L-lysine • serotonin • stress • anxiety • colon • rats

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