Amino Acids mixtures

Methods have been developed for analysis or deterrnination of free amino acids in blood, food, and feedstocks (116). In proteins, the first step is hydrolysis, then separation if necessary, and finally, analysis of the amino acid mixture. 

The automated amino acid analy2er depends on ion-exchange chromatography (117) and is now a routine tool for the analysis of amino acid mixtures (118). This most advanced machine can detect as Htde as 10 pmol in ninhydrin reaction analysis. One-half to two hours are required for each analysis. An analysis chart is shown in Figure 2. 

Thin-Layer Chromatography (tic). Tic (126) is used widely for quahtative analysis and micro-quantity separation of amino acid mixtures. The amino acids detected are developed by ninhydrin coloring, except for proline and hydroxyproline. Isatia has been recommended for specific coloring of pToline (127). 

In Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition. Amino acid transfusion has been widely used since early times to maintain basic nitrogen metaboHsm when proteinaceous food caimot be eaten. It was very difficult to prepare a pyrogen-free transfusion from protein hydrolysates. Since the advances in L-amino acid production, the crystalline L-amino acids have been used and the problem of pyrogen in transfusion has been solved. The formulation of amino acid transfusion has been extensively investigated, and a solution or mixture in which the ratio between essential and nonessential amino acid is 1 1, has been widespread clinically. Special amino acid mixtures (eg, branched chain amino acids-enriched solution) have been developed for the treatment of several diseases (93). 

A. Dossena, G. Galaverna, R. Coiradini and R. Marchelli, Two-dimensional liigh performance liquid chromatographic system foi the determination of enantiomeric excess in complex amino acid mixtures. Single amino acids analysis , ]. Chromatogr. 653 229-234 (1993). 

The experimental setup for high-speed CZE can be seen in Figure 9.8. Highspeed CZE, or fast CZE (FCZE), yielded 70 000 to 90 000 theoretical plates for the separation of amino acid mixtures. Complete separation was achieved in under 11s, using a capillary length of 4 cm (24). 

Figure 4. Enzymatic hydrolysis of met-enkephalin (2.5 nmol) showing the sequential release of amino acids and the final mixture. The amino acids were identified from the retention times of the standard amino acid mixture 9, Gly 12, Tyr 14, Met 17, Phe. (Reprinted from reference 5. Copyright 1987 American Chemical Society.)...

As the name implies, the odor of urine in maple syrup urine disease (brancbed-chain ketonuria) suggests maple symp or burnt sugar. The biochemical defect involves the a-keto acid decarboxylase complex (reaction 2, Figure 30-19). Plasma and urinary levels of leucine, isoleucine, valine, a-keto acids, and a-hydroxy acids (reduced a-keto acids) are elevated. The mechanism of toxicity is unknown. Early diagnosis, especially prior to 1 week of age, employs enzymatic analysis. Prompt replacement of dietary protein by an amino acid mixture that lacks leucine, isoleucine, and valine averts brain damage and early mortality. 

There are a few substances that can reduce serotonin, norepinephrine and/or dopamine rapidly and substantially, reducing them to levels thought to be lower than those of depressed patients.23 That is what reserpine was supposed to do and, as we have seen, it did not cause depression - despite the early clinical impression that it did. Other substances have been used in later studies, the most common of which are amino-acid mixtures that lack the essential amino acids needed by the body to produce these neurotransmitters. For example, having people drink a beverage that is rich in amino acids, but does not contain tryptophan (the amino acid needed to produce serotonin), lowers their serotonin levels within a couple of hours. 

Such enantiomeric excesses have not been observed in analyses of the corresponding a-H-a-aminoalkanoic acids. According to the authors, the excess of the L-forms could be due to a partial photocleavage of the racemic amino acid mixture as a result of the influence of circularly polarized UV light in a presolar cloud (Cronin and Pizzarello, 2000). 

If poly(U)-dependent polyphenylalanine synthesis is to be measured, the amount of template to be used is 5 fig/reaction mixture, the Mg acetate concentration is increased to 12 mM, and the amino acid mixture is omitted. 

Amino acid analysers based on ion exchange resins are available commercially. These achieve good separations of amino acid mixtures. Fluorescent derivatives of separated amino acids constitute a very sensitive means of detecting these compounds in seawater [256,258]. Fluorescent derivatives that have been studied include o-phthalaldehyde [259], dansyl [260], fluo-rescamine [261], and ninhydrin [261]. 

Table IV). Huff et al (11) extended these observations to include enzymatic hydrolysates of the native proteins and amino acid mixtures equivalent to soy or casein. In this experiment amino acid contents were identical among the diets fed as the three forms of each protein but the structure was different (Table V). 

Table V. Serum Cholesterol Levels in Rabbits fed Casein, Soy Protein, Their Hydrolysates and Their Amino Acid Mixtures...

Dietary treatment Intact casein Enzymatic hydrolysate Amino acid mixture... 

DW Aswad. Determination of d- and L-aspartate in amino acid mixtures by high-performance liquid chromatography after derivatization with a chiral adduct and o-phthaldialdehyde. Anal Biochem 137, 405, 1984. 

Hopkins stated further that he was able to obtain growth in rats on diets composed of amino acid mixtures only when small amounts of "yeast-extract etc. were added." He said nothing whatsoever about the milk supplements which underlie his entire 1912 paper. 

For the residue-type assignment of the cross peaks, the SH3 domain was expressed with specifically labeled glycine or arginine residues by using amino acid mixtures where only Gly and Arg were 15N-labeled. Again, yields for the labeled proteins were identical to those of the unlabeled product. Analysis of the corresponding [15N,1H]-HSQC spectra... 

Although these experiments showed growth was possible using casein hydrolysate, Rose also demonstrated that when the amino acid mixture was used rather than the intact protein, additional calories had to be provided as fat plus carbohydrate, if nitrogen balance was to be maintained. It was later shown that the carbohydrate was needed to protect the free amino acids from oxidation in the intestinal epithelium in the course of absorption. Further, amino acids are poorly tolerated by mouth, causing vomiting and/or diarrhea. After World War II attempts to feed very emaciated prisoners in concentration camps with protein hydrolysates were unsuccessful. It was then recognized that osmotic effects from the amino acids were responsible for the unpleasant consequences. 

Kwon JY, Moini M. 2001. Analysis of underivatized amino acid mixtures using high performance liquid chromatogra-phy/dual oscillating nebulizer atmospheric pressure micro-wave induced plasma ionization-mass spectrometry. J Am Soc Mass Spectrom 12 117. 

Results obtained in this way were helpful, but of limited value. The analyses told us whether or not the bile was supersaturated with cholesterol, but did not tell us whether the abnormality was due to too much cholesterol, too few bile acids, too few phospholipids or to some combined defect. The next step, therefore, was to measure the hour-by-hour bile lipid-secretion rates using marker-corrected perfusion techniques. These assume that, in response to the perfusion stimulus (such as an intra-duodenal amino acid mixture), the gallbladder remains tonically contracted throughout and steady-state conditions ensue. 

---