Dopamine and food reward: Effects of acute tyrosine/phenylalanine depletion on appetite

It has been suggested that obese individuals over-eat in order to compensate for deficits in the dopaminergic reward system. The current study used acute tyrosine/phenylalanine depletion (ATPD) to investigate the effect of reduced dopamine function on appetite and the reward value of food in healthy volunteers. The compensatory-eating hypothesis would predict an increase in the reward value and consumption of food following depletion by this method. In a double-blind, counterbalanced, crossover study, 17 male participants (mean age=29.2 (SEM=2.7) years; mean body mass index=24.4 (SEM=0.6) kg/m ²) were administered with a tyrosine/phenylalanine-free mixture (TYR/PHE-free; depletion condition) and a balanced amino acid mixture (BAL; control). Plasma amino acid levels were measured at baseline and peak depletion (300min). Appetite, willingness to pay for food, liking, desired portion size and ad libitum food intake were also assessed. The TYR/PHE-free mixture was associated with significant decreases in tyrosine, phenylalanine, and the ratio of tyrosine+phenylalanine to the other large neutral amino acids (all p<.001). There were no effects on our measures of willingness to pay for food or liking. However, in the TYR/PHE-free condition, participants reported significantly lower levels of hunger following a fixed-test meal relative to the BAL condition. In conclusion, we found no evidence for compensatory eating following ATPD. Our results also provide support for the role of dopamine in motivational components of eating.