Tryptamine and TrpRS in cancer and other conditions

Tryptamine shows mitogenic but not mutagenic activity. The aortic smooth muscle cells in vitro responded to 1 nM–10 µM serotonin or tryptamine with increased incorporation of [3H]thymidine into DNA. Tryptamine downregulates TrpRS expression, inhibits TrpRS enzymatic activity and shows anticancer activity in a number of cultured cancer cells. Therefore, tryptamine at the cytotoxic concentrations can prevent cancer and induce neurodegeneration. Cervicovaginal tryptamine levels were significantly lower in the newly diagnosed invasive cervical carcinoma compared to control human individuals. Although different types of cancer occurred in patients with AD, cancer inversely relates to AD and vascular dementia. TrpRS is a prognostic marker in some cancer types. Upregulation of TrpRS expression marks different cancer types whereas decrease in TrpRS expression is linked to poor prognosis for survival of cancer patients. TrpRS is an interferon alpha and gamma (IFN α/γ) inducible protein upregulated in hosts after some viral, bacterial, protozoan, helminth, and yeast infections.