Blood sulfur-amino acid concentration reflects an impairment of liver transsulfuration pathway in patients with acute abdominal inflammatory processes.
Whole-blood free amino acids were measured in a control group made up of eight healthy women fasted for 12 h and also in eight patients with acute pancreatitis, five patients with acute cholecystitis and seven patients with acute appendicitis. Blood was withdrawn immediately on admission to hospital and again 3 d later following a controlled peripheral parenteral nutrition diet; this is with the exception of the appendicitis group. l-Cystathionine and l-methionine concentrations were significantly higher in pancreatitis and appendicitis patients when compared with controls. In the pancreatitis and cholecystitis patients, l-serine concentration was also significantly higher when compared with controls. The l-homocysteine concentration was significantly higher only in the appendicitis group when compared with the control group. l-Cystine concentration was unchanged in all the patients studied when compared with control subjects. The l-methionine : l-cystine ratio was significantly higher and the l-glutamine : l-cystine ratio was significantly lower in all the patients when compared with controls. The blood S-amino acid pattern reflects an impairment in liver transsulfuration pathway during acute abdominal processes. This work supports the idea that the l-methionine : l-cystine and l-glutamine : l-cystine ratios can be taken as good markers to evaluate the S-amino acid metabolism and suggests the importance of using N-acetylcysteine as a required nutrient in these situations.
Dpto Bioquímica y Biología Molecular, Facultades de Medicina y Farmacia, Universidad de Valencia, Spain. Juan.R.Vina@uv.es
J R
JR
Viña
A
A
Giménez
A
A
Corbacho
I R
IR
Puertes
E
E
Borrás
C
C
García
T
T
Barber
D000111:Acetylcysteine / Q000627:therapeutic use; D000208:Acute Disease; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000603:Amino Acids, Sulfur / Q000097:blood*; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D008099:Liver / Q000378:metabolism*; D008875:Middle Aged; D010288:Parenteral Nutrition
D000603:Amino Acids, Sulfur; D015415:Biomarkers; D000111:Acetylcysteine