. 2025 Aug 6;12:1539145. doi: 10.3389/fnut.2025.1539145

Table 4.

The demographic characteristics of DRE patients and controls.

Characteristics	DRE patients	DRE patients after add-on treatment	Control	Comparison
Characteristics	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD	Mean ± SD	t/χ2¹	95% CI¹	p ¹	p ^†1	t/χ^{2 2}	95% CI²	p ²	p ^†2
Sex (male, %)	11 (34.4)	–	13 (44.8)	0.67		0.404
Age, years	41.72 ± 10.24	–	32.86 ± 12.09	3.10	(3.13–14.58)	0.003^*
TRP, ppb	11,623.36 ± 5,001.65	11,325.99 ± 2,763.75	19,202.67 ± 9,371.02	−3.88	(−11,518.94 – –3,639.68)	<0.001^*	<0.001^*	−4.31	(−11,595.35 – –4,158.01)	<0.001^***	0.001^***
Serotonin pathway
Serotonin, ppb	10.49 ± 7.74	12.44 ± 8.24	46.95 ± 35.06	−3.79	(−56.03– –16.88)	0.001^*	0.003^*	−3.65	(−53.80 – –15.21)	0.001^***	0.018^*
5-HTP, ppb	3.10 ± 0.21	4.16 ± 0.13	3.59 ± 0.38	−6.15	(−0.6 – –0.33)	<0.001^*	<0.001^*	7.57	(0.41–0.72)	<0.001^***	<0.001^***
Serotonin/TRP	0.0007 ± 0.0008	0.0011 ± 0.0007	0.0044 ± 0.0082	−2.42	(−0.01 – 0.00)	0.022^*	0.046*	−2.15	(−0.01 – 0.00)	0.040^*	0.182
5-HTP/TRP	0.0044 ± 0.0017	0.0004 ± 0.0001	0.0018 ± 0.0016	0.76	(−0.00 – 0.01)	0.450	0.372	−0.83	(0.00–0.00)	0.408	0.691
Serotonin/5-HTP	3.2081 ± 2.0485	2.9768 ± 1.9613	12.5720 ± 9.8052	−3.77	(−14.4 – –4.31)	0.001^*	0.003^*	−3.98	(−14.52 – –4.67)	<0.001^***	0.008^**
Indole pathway
IAA, ppb	170.61 ± 114.23	449.42 ± 294.70	437.30 ± 446.96	−3.12	(−440.83 – –92.54)	0.004^*	0.006^*	0.11	(−201.61 – 225.86)	0.910	0.747
IPA, ppb	57.58 ± 49.35	102.43 ± 95.19	135.17 ± 111.64	−3.38	(−124.09 – –31.08)	0.002^**	0.003^**	−1.11	(−91.87 – 26.41)	0.271	0.304
IAA/TRP	0.0212 ± 0.0279	0.0386 ± 0.0223	0.0254 ± 0.0208	−0.67	(−0.02 – 0.01)	0.503	0.682	2.21	(0.00–0.03)	0.031^*	0.029^*
IPA/TRP	0.0237 ± 0.0734	0.0097 ± 0.0105	0.0116 ± 0.0207	0.84	(−0.17 – 0.04)	0.403	0.341	−0.39	(−0.01 – 0.01)	0.695	0.890
Kynurenine pathway
KYN, ppb	680.67 ± 496.48	662.64 ± 272.83	1,220.18 ± 813.27	−3.09	(−891.22– –187.79)	0.003^*	0.006^*	−3.46	(−884.20 – –230.89)	0.001^**	0.006^**
KYNA, ppb	11.00 ± 3.59	12.14 ± 3.34	14.85 ± 6.34	−2.95	(−6.46 – –1.24)	0.004^*	0.007^*	−1.99	(−5.45 – 0.03)	0.053	0.087
KYN/TRP	0.0634 ± 0.0455	0.0631 ± 0.0426	0.0606 ± 0.0238	0.29	(−0.02 – 0.02)	0.773	0.720	0.27	(−0.02 – 0.02)	0.792	0.808
KYNA/KYN	0.1213 ± 0.2132	0.0283 ± 0.0450	0.0522 ± 0.1383	1.52	(−0.02 – 0.16)	0.135	0.080	−0.81	(−0.08 – 0.04)	0.423	0.784

TRP, tryptophan; 5-HTP, 5-hydroxytryptophan; IAA, 3-indole acetic acid; IPA, 3-indolepropionic acid; KYN, kynurenine; KYNA, kynurenic acid. *p < 0.05; **p < 0.01; ***p < 0.001. p† adjusted by age. ¹The comparison of TRYCATs between DRE patients and controls. ²The comparison of TRYCATs between DRE patients after multivitamin supplementation treatment and controls.