Amino Acid Excretion Patterns in Diabetic Children

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Urinary excretion levels of 26 amino acids were studied by quantitative paper chromatographic methods on 41 diabetic children under insulin treatment. Wide variations in excretion levels and patterns were found within the group. Hyperaminoaciduria was not present in any of the specimens studied. Histidine was excreted by all of the children studied. Gly-cine and alanine were excreted by 98%, glutamine by 92%, glutamic acid by 85%, valine by 85%, serine by 76%, lysine by 71%, taurine by 61%, [beta]-aminoisobutyric acid by 59%, tyrosine by 56%, threonine by 56%, and leucine by 37%. Proline, hydroxyproline and homocitrulline were excreted by only 1 child, an infant. Cystine, aspartic acid and phenylalanine were excreted in amounts less than 10 ug/mg creatinine. Tryptophane, ornithine, arginine, methionine, phosphoethanol amine, alpha-aminobutyric acid and methlhistidine were not detected in any of the specimens from diabetic children. Excretion levels of glycine, alanine and glutamine, commonly found in the urine of normal children, showed no significant correlations with insulin dosage, age of onset of symptoms or duration of treatment among the diabetic group. Gross comparison of mean excretion levels of the diabetic children to a heterogeneous group of 700 nondiabetic children showed levels below the 50 percentile with the exception of taurine which fell at the 75 percentile level. Glutamine excretions in the diabetic group fell at the 15 percentile. When the diabetic children were compared to groups of normal children, selected according to age, no significant differences in mean excretion levels or patterns could be demonstrated consistently. The 5 to 15 year-old age group of diabetics studied contained 32 patients. The mean values of amino acid excretions from this group compared closely with mean values of the normal group.

This publication has 1 reference indexed in Scilit: