ZRT Neurotransmitters Profile

How Do Neurotransmitters Work?

Like hormones, neurotransmitters depend on precise balance. Even subtle shifts can significantly affect brain activity. potentially leading to overstimulation or understimulation. These imbalances may influence mood, stress response, focus, and overall neurological health.

Gain a deeper understanding of your brain chemistry with this advanced profile. It measures 26 key neurotransmitters—along with the proteins and metabolites that support them—to provide a comprehensive view of your brain and nervous system function.

Foggy and unfocused? Identify the cause—fix the problem.

The good news is you can easily identify and manage neuroendocrine imbalances like serotonin, dopamine, and epinephrine with inexpensive, over-the-counter nutrients. That's right! Simple vitamin-store items like GABA, tryptophan, or theanine can cool down an anxious set of neuroendocrine imbalances. On the other hand, if your neurotransmitters are sluggish or depressed, you can boost them up with glutamine, tyrosine, or vitamin B6. 

The U-325 | LCMS Neurotransmitters Profile measures 26 levels of neurotransmitters (NT), and their metabolites, amino acids, and proteins. 

Samples are collected from dried urine four times a day, as neurotransmitters have a short lifespan; pooling some measurements over the four snapshots helps average the results. Add-ons are dried urine samples, except for the saliva steroid hormone add-ons, which will require both dried urine and saliva samples.

• 9 Neurotransmitters: GABA, Glutamate (Glu), Glycine (Gly), Dopamine (DA), Epinephrine (Epi), Norepinephrine (NE), Histamine (HIST), Serotonin (5-HT), Phenethylamine (PEA)
  
  
• plus 5 neurotransmitter metabolites: DOPAC, HVA, 5-HIAA, Normetanephrine (NMN), VMA
  
  
• plus 11 precursor essential amino acids, needed metabolites, and synthesized proteins:  Tryptophan (Trp), Taurine (Tau), Tyrosine (Tyr), Tyramine (Tyra), Glutamine (Gln), Histidine (His), N-Methylhistamine (N-MeHist), Kynurenine (Kyn), Kynurenic Acid (KynAc), 3-Hydroxykynurenine (3-OHkyn), Xanthurenic Acid (Xanth)
  
  
• Plus 1 Adjunct: Creatinine (Crtn)

Consider testing if you are experiencing symptoms such as: 

• depression
• anxiety
• fatigue
• insomnia
• low sex drive
• poor memory
• addictive behaviors
• ADD/ADHD
• OCD
• severe PMS/PMDD

Like hormones, neurotransmitters require a delicate balance to keep the body functioning at a peak level. When these levels become irregular, the brain gets over- or under-stimulated, resulting in neurological and psychological symptoms. For example, PEA is a biomarker for ADHD.

This test profile from ZRT Lab shows your overall functional assessment. Your health practitioner will be able to see not only the level of each neurotransmitter and enzyme but also how they are behaving and interacting with each other.

The optional SU-843 | Saliva 4-Point Cortisol measures your cortisol four times in a single 24-hour period. Cortisol normally rises and falls across the day. A single cortisol test can miss that pattern. Multiple saliva samples at different times can show when your cortisol is higher or lower across the day and provide more context for your clinician.

Use results like these to bring specifics to your clinician:

• Share your top symptoms and when they started
• Bring your medication and supplement list
• Ask: “What do these results suggest we should check next, and why?”

Important notes

• This panel does not diagnose a medical condition by itself. It provides lab data to review with a licensed clinician.
• Hormone levels can vary day to day. Stress, shift work, illness, and steroid medications can affect cortisol and related results.
• Major medical groups caution against using saliva hormone results by themselves to “dial in” hormone dosing. Use results as one piece of the full clinical picture with your clinician.