Abstract
Free amino acids in fasting plasma and erythrocytes were quantitated on a JLC-6 AH automatic amino acid analyzer, with use of a lithium citrate buffer elution system for the separation of glutamine and asparagine. Sulfosalicylic acid was used as the deproteinizing agent to prevent the loss of tryptophan during the procedure. The results of 20 patients (age from 41 to 72, average 54, 10 males and 10 females) with various diseases not affecting the free amino acids were compared with normal control data in the literature. The values of 26 free amino acids in our measurements were mostly in the same ranges reported as normal values in the literature. Therefore the data of our diseased controls are thought to be age-matched controls in studying changes in diseases which induce severe damage of cerebral tissue such as cerebral vascular lesion, encephalitis or cerebral trauma.
