The involvement of nutrients in cellular defense and repair systems suggests that nutrient requirements must be modified by pathology. In disease, nutrient-dependent activities are expanded to include effects that enhance cellular responsiveness to treatment and accommodate accelerated rates of metabolic activity. Although specific nutrient requirements for different diseases have not been established, they may be imputed from current knowledge of the chemical, physical and biological properties of each nutrient, the nature of the disease, the tissues involved, the type of treatment indicated, and the cellular activities targeted by the treatment.

Neurotransmitters are a class of compounds derived from amino acid precursors that target specific cells to elicit a response to a particular effector molecule. These effector molecules may be a nutrient, a hormone, a nucleotide, an enzyme, a drug, an immunoreactive substance, an inflammatory mediator, or any other substance that has the ability to evoke a cellular response. The neurotransmitters that have been identified and characterized to date are serotonin, nitric oxide, brain histamine, gamma-amino butyric acid (GABA), acetylcholine, dopamine, and norepinephrine. These neurotransmitters are derived from tryptophan, arginine, histidine, glutamic acid, choline, and tyrosine (dopamine and norepinephrine), respectively. Each neurotransmitter will act on a specific target cells. In the presence of disease, the increased demand for neurotransmitters cannot be satisfied by consuming amounts of precursors from dietary sources alone. Supplementation may be needed to prevent relative deficiencies of these amino acid precursors that will ensure that sufficient amounts of neurotransmitters produced are to promote a robust response to treatment and support the processes of healing and recovery.

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