Nitrogen amino acid excretion

Many microorganisms can synthesise amino acids from inorganic nitrogen compounds. The rate and amount of some amino acids may exceed the cells need for protein synthesis, where the excess amino acids are excreted into the media. Some microorganisms are capable of producing certain amino acids such as lysine, glutamic acid and tryptophan. 

Cll. Childs, B., Urinary excretion of free alpha-amino acid nitrogen by normal infants and children. Proc. Soc. Exptl. Biol. Med. 81, 225-226 (1952). 

Dehydrogenase Deficiency, Biotinidase Deficiency, and Adrenoleukodystrophy. Catabolism of essential amino acid skeletons is discussed in the chapters Phenylketonuria and HMG-CoA Lyase Deficiency. The chapters Inborn Errors of Urea Synthesis and Neonatal Hyperbilirubinemia discuss the detoxification and excretion of amino acid nitrogen and of heme. The chapter Gaucher Disease provides an illustration of the range of catabolic problems that result in lysosomal storage diseases. Several additional chapters deal with key aspects of intracellular transport of enzymes and metabolic intermediates the targeting of enzymes to lysosomes (I-Cell Disease), receptor-mediated endocytosis (Low-Density Lipoprotein Receptors and Familial Hypercholesterolemia) and the role of ABC transporters in export of cholesterol from the cell (Tangier disease). 

Urea, % total dissolved nitrogen excreted as urea % amino acids, % total dissolved nitrogen excreted as amino acids % TDN excreted as DON, % total dissolved nitrogen excreted as DON. Note Most studies did not measure actual total dissolved nitrogen, but rather ammonia, urea, and amino acids. 

This also produces an NADH, providing another 2.5 ATP s. thus the final tally is -4 + 2.5 + 2.5 = +1 ATP to produce one urea from two amino acid nitrogens. Of course for mammals this does not take into account the physiological costs of excreting the urea, which can be significant. 

Amino acids differ from carbohydrates and fats in that they contain nitrogen as part of their molecular structure. For the carbons in amino acids to enter into the energy generating metabolic pathways, the amino groups must first be removed so that they can be detoxified and excreted. The amino acid nitrogen is excreted predominantly as urea, but some is also excreted as free ammonia in order to buffer the urine. 

Before the carbon skeletons of amino acids are oxidized, the nitrogen must be removed. Amino acid nitrogen forms ammonia, which is toxic to the body. In the liver, ammonia and the amino groups from amino acids are converted to urea, which is nontoxic, water-soluble, and readily excreted in the urine. The process by which urea is produced is known as the urea cycle. The liver is the organ responsible for producing urea. Branched-chain amino acids can be oxidized in many tissues, but the nitrogen must always travel to the liver for disposal. 

Effect on Amino Acids and Protein Synthesis. The administration of growth hormone induces a positive nitrogen balance, which means that less nitrogen is excreted in the urine and the concentration of amino acid nitrogen in the blood is reduced. 

Proteins. Proteins (qv) supply amino acids (qv), palatabiHty enhancement, and, when present in more than requited amounts, energy as the proteins are degraded and nitrogen compounds excreted. Dogs and cats can consume and meet amino acid requirements in the form of pure amino acids with complete success. However, animal tissue cannot differentiate between pure, plant, or animal sources of those amino acids, and those amino acids can be obtained much more economically from either plant or animal proteins. 

Biosynthesis of Protein. The dynamic equilibrium of body protein was confirmed by animal experiments using A/-labeled amino acids in 1939 (104). The human body is maintained by a continuous equilibrium between the biosynthesis of proteins and their degradative metabolism where the nitrogen lost as urea (about 85% of total excreted nitrogen) and other nitrogen compounds is about 12 g/d under ordinary conditions. The details of protein biosynthesis in living cells have been described (2,6) (see also Proteins). 

Schoeninger, M.J. and DeNiro, M.J. 1984 Nitrogen and carbon isotopic composition of bone collagen from marine and terrestrial animals. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48 625-639. Schuette, S. A., Hegsted, M., Zemel, B. and Linkswiler, H.M. 1981 Renal acid, urinary cyclic AMP, and hydroxyproline excretion as affected by level of protein, sulfur amino acids and phosphorus intake. Journal of Nutrition 111 2106-2116. 

The amino acids are required for protein synthesis. Some must be supplied in the diet (the essential amino acids) since they cannot be synthesized in the body. The remainder are nonessential amino acids that are supplied in the diet but can be formed from metabolic intermediates by transamination, using the amino nitrogen from other amino acids. After deamination, amino nitrogen is excreted as urea, and the carbon skeletons that remain after transamination (1) are oxidized to CO2 via the citric acid cycle, (2) form glucose (gluconeogenesis), or (3) form ketone bodies. 

The urea cycle is essential for the detoxification of ammonia 678 Urea cycle defects cause a variety of clinical syndromes, including a metabolic crisis in the newborn infant 679 Urea cycle defects sometimes result from the congenital absence of a transporter for an enzyme or amino acid involved in the urea cycle 680 Successful management of urea cycle defects involves a low-protein diet to minimize ammonia production as well as medications that enable the excretion of ammonia nitrogen in forms other than urea 680... 

Brusilow, S., Tinker, J. and Batshaw, M. L. Amino acid acylation A mechanism of nitrogen excretion in inborn errors of urea synthesis. Science 207 659,1980. 

Amino groups released by deamination reactions form ammonium ion (NH " ), which must not escape into the peripheral blood. An elevated concentration of ammonium ion in the blood, hyperammonemia, has toxic effects in the brain (cerebral edema, convulsions, coma, and death). Most tissues add excess nitrogen to the blood as glutamine. Muscle sends nitrogen to the liver as alanine and smaller quantities of other amino acids, in addition to glutamine. Figure I-17-1 summarizes the flow of nitrogen from tissues to either the liver or kidney for excretion. The reactions catalyzed by four major enzymes or classes of enzymes involved in this process are summarized in Table T17-1. 

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