Serum Amino Acid Studies in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

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Abstract
Previously we reported upon the results of arginine tolerance tests carried out in patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and hospitalized controls, both groups consisting of Caucasians living in the Kansas City area.1 The levels of arginine were noted to be significantly lower in the patients than in the controls. Later, because of the extraordinarily high incidence of ALS among the Chamorros on Guam, and because there have been suggestions that the disease there might be different from the sporadic ALS encountered in Caucasian Americans,2 the Metrecal arginine lysine tolerance test (MALTT) was also carried out both on Chamorro patients with ALS and hospitalized controls at the Guam Memorial Hospital, Agana, Guam in March 1964. The present paper describes and discusses our observations in these patients and controls. Material and Methods Patients and Controls.—A myelogram was performed on all patients whose disease had been diagnosed as ALS