Characteristics of amino acid profiles and incretin hormones in patients with gallstone disease : a pilot study

INTRODUCTION Gallstone disease is associated with insulin resistance, type 2 diabetes mellitus, and increased risk of incident ischemic heart disease. It is known that the profile of branched‑chain amino acids (BCAAs) is altered in cardiac diseases as well as metabolic diseases, such as diabetes and obesity. The role of BCAAs in gallstone disease is still not known. OBJECTIVES The aim of this study was to evaluate the concentration of essential amino acids and incretin hormones in patients with cholecystolithiasis. PATIENTS AND METHODS The study included 31 patients with cholecystolithiasis and 25 gallstone‑free controls. The levels of free exogenous and endogenous amino acids, bile acids, glucagon‑like peptide 1, glucose‑dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, ghrelin, C‐peptide, and insulin were measured in the fasting state and 1 hour after consumption of a 300‑kcal mixed meal. RESULTS The mean fasting and postprandial levels of valine, isoleucine, leucine, and lysine were higher in the study group than in controls (all P <0.01). The percentage increase in concentrations of amino acids after a meal were similar in both groups of patients. The mean fasting concentrations of C‑peptide and glucagon‑like peptide 1 were higher in the study group than in the control group (P = 0.004 and P = 0.03, respectively), and the median postprandial concentration of C‑peptide was higher in the study group as compared with the control group (P = 0.03). CONCLUSIONS Diabetes mellitus, coronary heart disease, and gallstone disease might have common genetic and environmental antecedents. However, higher plasma levels of BCAAs observed in patients with gallstone disease may be partly responsible for metabolic complications observed in these patients

Metabolic fingerprint of Turner syndrome

Girls with Turner syndrome (TS) are at increased risk of developing insulin resistance and coronary artery disease as a result of hypertension and obesity frequently seen in these patients. On the other hand, it is known that obesity is associated with increased serum levels of branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs: valine; leucine and isoleucine) and aromatic amino acids. The aim of the study is to compare the metabolic fingerprint of girls with TS to the metabolic fingerprint of girls with obesity. Metabolic fingerprinting using an untargeted metabolomic approach was examined in plasma from 46 girls with TS (study group) and 22 age-matched girls with obesity (control group). The mean values of BCAAs, methionine, phenylalanine, lysine, tryptophan, histidine, tyrosine, alanine and ornithine were significantly lower in the study group than in the control (p from 0.0025 to <0.000001). Strong significant correlation between BCAAs, phenylalanine, arginine, tyrosine, glutamic acid, citrulline and alanine, and body mass index expressed as standard deviation score BMI-SDS in the patients with obesity (p from 0.049 to 0.0005) was found. In contrast; there was no correlation between these amino acids and BMI-SDS in the girls with TS. It is suggested that obesity in patients with TS is not associated with altered amino acids metabolism

The amino acid profile in blood plasma of young boys with autism

The aim of the study: It has been suggested that some amino acids are involved in the pathogenesis of autistic disorders. The aim of the study was to evaluate the plasma amino acids profile in young males with autism. Method: Total of 27 autistic boys (aged 2–10 years, the study group) without any metabolic disorders and 13 healthy boys (aged 2–9 years, control group) were included in the study. In all subjects fasting blood plasma free amino acids (both exogenous and endogenous) were quantitatively measured by high performance liquid chromatography with UV-VIS detection. Results: The mean plasma concentration values of citrulline, α-aminobutyric acid, isoleucine, leucine, phenylalanine, tryptophan and ornithine were significantly lower in boys with autism as compared to the control group (p < 0.03, p < 0.04, p < 0.02, p < 0.02, p < 0.05, p < 0.02, p < 0.05, respectively). The areas under the Receiver Operating Characteristic curves for these amino acids ranged from 0.637 to 0.726. None of the amino acids measured differentiate autistic children from healthy children. The sum of exogenous amino acids was lower in the study group than in the control group but this difference was not statistically significant. Conclusions: Lower levels of exogenous amino acids confirm the possible role of these amino acids in autism. Determination of exogenous amino acids in plasma, however, cannot be used as a diagnostic test but it can still support autistic patients care