Abstract
Amino acids (AAs) play a crucial role in cancer cell metabolism. Levels of 22 plasma AAs at the time of diagnosis and after treatment were established among 39 pediatric cancer patients and 33 healthy children. Glutamic acid levels decreased and tryptophan levels increased during treatment. Cancer patients presented significantly lower levels of glutamine and leucine post-treatment while levels of 12 other AAs were higher comparing to controls. Results suggest that plasma free AA profile may serve as a prognostic biomarker.
Highlights
Amino acids (AAs) as metabolic key regulators of many cell pathways are essential for differentiation, growth and maintenance of immunological balance of human cells.Handling editor: G
Analyses performed to determine changes in plasma-free amino acid (PFAA) before and after treatment revealed a significant decrease in plasma Glutamic acid (Glu) levels (P = 0.004) and a significant increase in Trp (P = 0.0163) and Cit/Gly (P = 0.0429) levels after treatment
PFAA levels have been proposed as an additional tool in diagnosis and monitoring of malignant disease. In this follow-up study, we have evaluated how PFAA levels change during treatment in a group of cancer pediatric patients
Summary
Amino acids (AAs) as metabolic key regulators of many cell pathways are essential for differentiation, growth and maintenance of immunological balance of human cells. A cachectic oncological patient commonly presents hypermetabolism with intensified processes of lipolysis, fatty acid oxidation and gluconeogenesis, as well as protein catabolism (Bernstein and Ortiz 2005; Giovannucci 1999). Studies on amino acids carried out on animal cancer models have shown an increased protein catabolism in muscle cells with a simultaneous decrease in their synthesis and an increase in total protein turnover compared to control group (Kawamura et al 1982)
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