Abstract
Objective: This study was carried out to investigate the utility of measuring plasma amino acid as stress testing in ningen dock. Methods: The plasma amino acid measurements were made on 767 subjects by means of HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography). The severity of stress was evaluated by using the stress interview sheet. The major depression was diagnosed by DSM-IV(Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorder,4th ed. ). Results: Depressed subjects had significantly lower lysine (p<0.01) and tryptophan (p< 0.05) compared with healthy controls. The results suggest that the depression is accompanied by change of plasma amino acids, such as lysine and tryptophan. Conclusions: Measuring plasma amino acid can be said to be useful as early screening for stress disorders.
