Neurotransmitters and hormones
Neurotransmitters and hormones aren't measured by how you feel but by values: cortisol as a daily profile, testosterone and progesterone in saliva, serotonin and adrenaline through their breakdown products in urine.
A single value doesn't make a picture. Timing, cycle day and nutrient status are part of it — as is a practitioner putting it in context.
What is measured here
Speichel
Speichel
Speichel
Urin
Urin
Urine and blood
Urine & blood
SpeichelWhy saliva and not blood
For steroid hormones, saliva is not a second best; in several respects it is the more suitable sample. Where that doesn't hold, it is set out below.
Often low on testing, rarely diagnosed
There is an order of magnitude between the share of men with low testosterone on laboratory testing and the share with a medical diagnosis. The figures come from three independent surveys.
Bar length on a shared scale of 0 to 20 per cent. The surveys differ in age, population and cut-off value, so they cannot be set against one another directly — they show the range.
The guidelines set two conditions: symptoms that fit, and a morning sample, because the value falls over the course of the day. One value on its own is not enough.
Weight, metabolic state and accompanying conditions act on the value. In the DETECT survey, low values occurred particularly often alongside excess weight, metabolic syndrome and inflammatory conditions.
A shortfall in one of these nutrients doesn't explain a hormone value. But it is part of the picture when a value is interpreted.
The cycle day decides the value
Progesterone only rises after ovulation. Measured on the wrong day, the value tells you nothing. That is why the window sits in the middle of the second half of the cycle, and the literature recommends two to three measurements.
A schematic curve, not measured data. With shorter or longer cycles the window shifts; what counts is the distance from ovulation, not the calendar day.
Prevalence figures vary so widely because there is no single definition. Some in the field do not regard luteal phase defect as an established diagnosis in its own right. We give the range rather than picking one figure.
Two axes, one raw material
Serotonin is made from tryptophan, adrenaline from tyrosine. Both routes need the same cofactors — and both respond to sustained strain. What is measured here are concentrations in urine or blood, not processes in the brain.
Tryptophan is the only source. If the body cannot draw on it because it is used up elsewhere, it is missing at the end of the chain.
Under sustained strain this axis runs high. Over a longer period the catecholamines can also come out low — then both axes are down.
A description of metabolic pathways, not a statement about the course of a disease and not a diagnosis.
Neurotransmitters in urine are not a direct picture of conditions in the brain. Laboratories that offer these panels say so plainly as well: the measurement shows regulation in the body, not a finding in the brain.
In the specialist literature there is disagreement about how much these results say. They are used to follow a course alongside symptoms and a cortisol profile, but not as a finding alone.
Review of neurotransmitters in urine, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews 2010Two cascades, one switch — and what happens when both tip over
The body has two modes: one for action, one for recovery. What is healthy is not one or the other but the switch between them. If the switch stops happening, the action side eventually drops too — and then neither side carries you.
This cascade is not passivity. Concentration, digestion and cell repair happen here — the body is working, just not against a threat.
In the short term it is useful and necessary. It only becomes a problem when it no longer switches off.
Schematic course drawn from the literature on circadian rhythm, not a curve from readings. The curves show the direction, not absolute values.
A schematic picture of regulatory states. It does not describe the course of an illness and does not replace a diagnosis. Exhaustion can have many causes, among them physical illnesses that need medical assessment.
Cortisol shows the daily axis, the neurotransmitters the messenger picture, tryptophan and the cofactors the building blocks. Only together do they show what state someone is in.
Where the figures come from
- European Male Aging Study, cited in: Testosteronmangel im Alter — normal oder pathologisch? Deutsches Ärzteblatt.
- Zitzmann M. et al., care study on male testosterone deficiency, The Aging Male 2026. Billing data from around 4 million men with statutory health insurance, 2014 to 2021.
- DETECT study, a cross-sectional survey in around 3,200 German GP practices; testosterone measured in 2,719 men. Deutsche Gesellschaft für Endokrinologie.
- Luteal phase deficiency, Gynäkologische Endokrinologie, Springer.
- Diagnosis and treatment of luteal phase deficiency — a committee opinion, American Society for Reproductive Medicine, 2021.
- Neurotransmitters excreted in the urine as biomarkers of nervous system activity — validity and clinical applicability, Neuroscience & Biobehavioral Reviews, 2010.
When is measuring testosterone useful?
When there are complaints that fit. The surveys show that many men with a low laboratory value have no symptoms, and a value without complaints leads nowhere.
The sample is taken in the morning, shortly after waking, and a conspicuous value is confirmed on a second morning. For diagnosing testosterone deficiency the guidelines specify total testosterone in serum — a saliva value serves for orientation and for tracking change.
Why does the cycle day matter so much for progesterone?
Progesterone is only produced in relevant amounts after ovulation. In the first half of the cycle the value is naturally low, and measuring there tells you nothing about the second half.
The window is about five to seven days after ovulation, so around day 19 to 23 in a 28-day cycle. The literature recommends two to three measurements in the mid-luteal phase.
Why saliva and not blood?
Only the unbound fraction of the steroid hormones ends up in saliva — the fraction that acts inside the cells. And because the sample is taken at home, daily profiles and cycle-specific timings can be kept to at all.
Not every question can be answered this way: thyroid values need blood, and the guideline diagnosis of testosterone deficiency runs via serum. There is more on that further up this page.
Can serotonin be measured in urine?
The concentration in urine or blood can be measured. This value is not a direct picture of conditions in the brain — the laboratories offering such panels state that too.
The measurement is useful as one piece of information alongside complaints, the daily cortisol profile and nutrient status. On its own it is not suited to a psychiatric diagnosis.
What does nutrient status have to do with hormones?
Hormones and messenger substances are built from building blocks: cholesterol and protein as material, zinc, vitamin B6, iron, magnesium and vitamin C as cofactors in the conversion steps.
That is why the nutrient analysis is often ordered together with the hormone measurement. Whether a supplement is an option for you is something you discuss with a practitioner after the lab report.
Does this replace seeing a doctor?
No. These analyses give measured values with the laboratory's reference range. A doctor or a non-medical practitioner makes the diagnosis.
If your cycle stops, if you have been trying to conceive for a long time, or if symptoms are pronounced, that belongs in a medical practice, not in a self-test.
Everything on this page comes from studies and describes groups, not individual cases. What a value means for you is something you discuss with a doctor or a non-medical practitioner — or with our expert network near you.
Four profiles compared
All four measure from urine. What differs is whether the neurotransmitters themselves are the focus — or the pathway that produces them: tryptophan metabolism.
The table shows what each profile contains. The matrix below shows which parameter is in which profile and which is not.
What each profile contains — and who it suits
| Kriterium | Profile 1Neurotransmitter Basis €105,00 | Profile 2Neurotransmitter Plus €185,90 | Profile 3Neurotransmitter Tryptophan Metabolism €305,00 | Profile 4Neurotransmitter Tryptophan Metabolism Plus €375,00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Umfang | Four neurotransmitters plus ratio, creatinine-normalised | Six neurotransmitters plus ratio, creatinine-normalised | Seven areas examined | Ten individual values plus two calculated indices |
| Parameter | Serotonin, dopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline, noradrenaline/adrenaline ratio, creatinine for normalisation | Serotonin, GABA, glutamate, dopamine, noradrenaline, adrenaline, noradrenaline/adrenaline ratio, creatinine for normalisation | Serotonin, dopamine, GABA, glutamate, adrenaline, noradrenaline, tryptophan metabolism, mitochondrial function, methylation, cofactors B6, B12 and B3, oxidative and nitrosative stress | Tryptophan, kynurenine, kynurenic acid, 3-OH-kynurenine, quinolinic acid, NAD, serotonin, adrenaline, noradrenaline, dopamine, IDO and KMO index as calculated ratios, creatinine for normalisation |
| Schwerpunkt | Four core neurotransmitters, compact | Neurotransmitters and their counterparts | The whole route: neurotransmitters, cofactors, cell | The kynurenine axis in detail |
| Answers the question | The starting point. Are the central neurotransmitters in balance — with persistent exhaustion, low mood, sleep problems or a drop in performance? | When the four basic values are not enough: GABA and glutamate show how calming and over-excitation stand to each other. | Not just which value is low, but what is behind it: missing building blocks, slowed enzymes or a cell without energy. | Does tryptophan turn towards serotonin — or into the kynurenine route, which becomes more prominent under inflammation? |
| Grenze | Tells you that a value is low — not why. Neither tryptophan metabolism nor GABA and glutamate are measured. | Tryptophan metabolism is left out, and so are the cofactors. Where inflammation is involved, the branch into the kynurenine pathway is missing. | The tryptophan route is listed as one area, not broken down with IDO and KMO indices. For the kynurenine question, Tryptophan Plus is more precise. | GABA and glutamate are missing, as are mitochondria and methylation. If you want to know why the cell isn't producing energy, NT-Tryptophan is the better fit. The highest price of the four. |
| Preis | €105,00 | €185,90 | €305,00 | €375,00 |
Exactly how the sample is collected is set out in the instructions for each test — they come with the kit and are available online. For some profiles the timing matters; the instructions say when.
Which parameter is in which profile
No scoring and no ranking: a parameter is either included or it is not. The rows come from the instructions for the four tests, where the parameters are listed with reference range and laboratory test number.
| Parameter | NT Basis | NT Plus | NT Tryptophan | Tryptophan Plus |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| SerotoninThe neurotransmitter for mood and sleep quality | enthalten | enthalten | enthalten | enthalten |
| CatecholaminesDopamine, adrenaline, noradrenaline — the drive and stress axis | enthalten | enthalten | enthalten | enthalten |
| GABA and glutamateThe counterparts: calming versus over-excitation | not included | enthalten | enthalten | not included |
| Noradrenaline/adrenaline ratioHow the two stress hormones stand to each other | enthalten | enthalten | not included | not included |
| Tryptophan metabolismThe pathway that produces serotonin in the first place | not included | not included | enthalten | enthalten |
| Kynurenine axis with IDO and KMO indexWhether tryptophan turns down the inflammatory pathway | not included | not included | not included | enthalten |
| Cofactors B6, B12, B3The building blocks without which metabolism does not run | not included | not included | enthalten | not included |
| Mitochondrial activityEnergy production inside the cell | not included | not included | enthalten | not included |
| Methylation and oxidative stressWhether repair and detoxification keep pace | not included | not included | enthalten | not included |
| NADThe carrier of cell energy at the end of the kynurenine pathway | not included | not included | not included | enthalten |
| Schwerpunkt | Four core neurotransmitters, compact | Neurotransmitters and their counterparts | The whole route: neurotransmitters, cofactors, cell | The kynurenine axis in detail |
A compact profile answers its own question just as fully as a broad one — it simply answers fewer others along the way. The source is the instructions for tests F500, F510, F610 and F620, as at 24 August 2026.
Which profile for whom
The analyses give measured values with the laboratory's reference range. The diagnosis is made by a doctor or by a non-medical practitioner (Heilpraktiker). With acute symptoms, do not wait for a lab report — go to a practice near you, or talk to our expert network.