Effect of Enterally Administered Ornithine Alpha-Ketoglutarate on Plasma and Urinary Amino Acid Levels after Burn Injury

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Abstract
Eight severely burned patients received 10 g twice a day of enterally administered ornithine .alpha.-ketoglutarate. Variations in their plasma and urinary amino acid levels were compared with those from 6 severely burned control patients. The study covered the period from the 4th day to the 28th day after injury. Essential differences between the 2 groups were that plasma ornithine and Pro increased until day 13 in the treated group, plasma Phe levels were higher in the control group except on day 13, the peak, on the 21st day, in plasma concentrations of Val, Leu, Ile, Tyr, Lys, Pro and ornithine, in the control group was not found in treated subjects, and urinary amino acids were lower on day 28 in the treated group. Ornithine .alpha.-ketoglutarate administration apparently lowered protein catabolism after injury, probably through a process mediated by increased secretion of insulin and human growth hormone.