Plasma-Free Amino Acid Profiling of Nasal Polyposis Patients

Serum amino acid profile in chronic sinusitis

Objective: Serum amino acid profile is known to vary in many diseases. The changes in the serum amino acid profile provide important information about diagnosis and prognosis of related diseases and the effectiveness of treatment. The aim of this study is to investigate whether serum amino acids are effective in the development of CRS. Methods: A total of 23 healthy volunteers between the ages of 20 and 40 years were allocated to the control group (Group 1) and 27 patients with chronic rhinosinusitis were allocated to the study group (Group 2). The patients whose history, symptom, and examination findings were consistent with chronic sinusitis and who also who had sinusitis findings on a paranasal sinus tomography and were diagnosed with chronic sinusitis for at least one year were included in Group 2. A total of 32 serum-free amino acid levels were measured in both group using the LC-MS/MS system. Results: The serum taurine level was found to be statistically significantly lower in Group 2 compared to Group 1 (p:0.002). A significant alteration was not observed in the serum levels of remaining 31 amino acids. Conclusion: According to the data we obtained from the study, decreased serum taurine level may be a factor in the etiopathogenesis of chronic rhinosinusitis and therefore taurine supplementation may be considered as a new therapeutic target in the treatment of chronic rhinosinusitis.

Plasma Free Amino Acid Profile in HIV-Positive Cases

Background:

Increasing the sensitivity and availability of LC-MS / MS devices may provide advantages in terms of revealing the changes in metabolic pathways in HIV-positive patients and elucidating the physiopathology.

Introduction:

The aim of this study was to determine the difference in amino acid level between HIV-positive patients and healthy individuals by using LC-MS / MS, and to investigate its relationship with HIV infection.

Material and Methods:

Concentrations of 36 different amino acids and their derivatives were measured and compared in venous plasma samples from 24 HIV-positive patients and 24 healthy individuals by using the LC-MS/MS method (Shimadzu North America, Columbia, MD, USA).

Results:

HIV-positive subjects had significantly lower alanine, 1-methyl-L-histidine, valine, aspartate, cysteine, cystine, methionine, lysine, glutamine, imino acid, tyrosine, tryptophan, threonine, sarcosine, and argininosuccinic acid and significantly higher 3-methyl-L -histidine, asparagine glutamate, and carnosine levels as compared to healthy controls. No significant differences were detected in other amino acids.

Conclusion:

The significant differences in amino acid profile between HIV-positive and healthy subjects may represent an auxiliary biomarker of cellular damage in asymptomatic HIV-positive patients that may be examined in more detail in further studies. It may also provide guidance for symptomatic cases in terms of the association between symptoms, clinical manifestations and deficiency or excess of certain amino acids in the context of the complete metabolomics record of HIV-positive patients.

The serum amino acid profile in COVID-19

The pandemic of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) caused by SARS-CoV-2 affects millions of people worldwide. There are still many unknown aspects to this infection which affects the whole world. In addition, the potential impacts caused by this infection are still unclear. Amino acid metabolism, in particular, contains significant clues in terms of the development and prevention of many diseases. Therefore, this study aimed to compare amino acid profile of COVID-19 and healthy subject. In this study, the amino acid profiles of patients with asymptomatic, mild, moderate, and severe/critical SARS-CoV-2 infection were scanned with LC–MS/MS. The amino acid profile encompassing 30 amino acids in 142 people including 30 control and 112 COVID-19 patients was examined. 20 amino acids showed significant differences when compared to the control group in COVID-19 patient groups with different levels of severity in the statistical analyses conducted. It was detected that the branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs) changed in correlation with one another, and l-2-aminobutyric acid and l-phenylalanine had biomarker potential for COVID-19. Moreover, it was concluded that l-2-aminobutyric acid could provide prognostic information about the course of the disease. We believe that a new viewpoint will develop regarding the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis as a result of the evaluation of the serum amino acid profiles of COVID-19 patients. Determining l-phenylalanine and l-2-aminobutyric levels can be used in laboratories as a COVID-19-biomarker. Also, supplementing COVID patients with taurine and BCAAs can be beneficial for treatment protocols.