Lysine is an essential amino acid in human nutrition. Lysine has a number of roles in human physiology and this may include a role in the central nervous system. One role that may relate to lysine is as a precursor to the excitatory amino acid neurotransmitter glutamate. Estimates suggest that around 25 % of the glutamate in the brain of humans is produced in the brain by the action of branched-chain aminotransferase in astrocytes. However, this leaves a significant amount of glutamate synthesised by other routes, one of which may be via the degradation of lysine. As glutamate can be synthesised into GABA, this may also be a route by with neurones synthesise GABA. It is unclear what effects supplemental lysine would have on brain levels of glutamate, but there may be additional synthesis of glutamate with lysine supplementation. Some foods such as cereals are low in lysine and so reliance on these foods in certain restrictive diets could have detrimental effects on glutamate synthesis.
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