L-tryptophan aids herpes replication

[Kofi]

CMV and Epstein-Barr are in the same family of viruses. I suspect this
helps to explain the mysterious deaths by infection that accompanied
tryptophan supplementation several years ago. FYI, turkey is a rich
source of tryptophan. As I mentioned in another message, my health
improved when I eliminated it from my diet recently.

J Virol. 2004 Mar;78(5):2632-6.

Role of indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase in alpha/beta and gamma
interferon-mediated antiviral effects against herpes simplex virus
infections.

Adams O, Besken K, Oberdorfer C, MacKenzie CR, Takikawa O, Daubener W.
Institut fur Virologie. Institut fur Medizinische Mikrobiologie,
Heinrich-Heine-Universitat, D-40225 Dusseldorf, Germany. Department of
Cell Pharmacology, Hokkaido University, Sapporo 060-8638, Japan.

Gamma interferon (IFN-gamma)-mediated indoleamine-2,3-dioxygenase (IDO)
activity in human astrocytoma cells and in native astrocytes was found
to be responsible for the inhibition of herpes simplex virus
replication. The effect is abolished in the presence of excess amounts
of L-tryptophan. Both IFN-alpha and IFN-beta restricted herpes simplex
virus replication in both cell types, but (in contrast to the results
seen with IFN-gamma) the addition of an excess amount of L-tryptophan
did not inhibit the induced antiviral effect.

PMID: 14963171

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