Decreased plasma l-arginine levels in organic acidurias (MMA and PA) and decreased plasma branched-chain amino acid levels in urea cycle disorders as a potential cause of growth retardation: Options for treatment.
Molema F, Gleich F, Burgard P, van der Ploeg AT, Summar ML, Chapman KA, Lund AM, Rizopoulos D, Kölker S, Williams M,
Molecular genetics and metabolism, 2019 04
Abstract
Patients with methylmalonic acidemia (MMA) and propionic acidemia (PA) and urea cycle disorders (UCD), treated with a protein restricted diet, are prone to growth failure. To obtain optimal growth and thereby efficacious protein incorporation, a diet containing the essential and functional amino acids for growth is necessary. Optimal growth will result in improved protein tolerance and possibly a decrease in the number of decompensations. It thus needs to be determined if amino acid deficiencies are associated with the growth retardation in these patient groups. We studied the correlations between plasma L-arginine levels, plasma branched chain amino acids (BCAA: L-isoleucine, L-leucine and L-valine) levels (amino acids known to influence growth), and height in MMA/PA and UCD patients.