Decreased serum essential and aromatic amino acids in patients with chronic pancreatitis

Table 1 Selected laboratory values in patients with chronic pancreatitis and control subjects (mean ± SD)

	Control	Chronic pancreatitis	Statistical significance
No. of patients	21	35
Age (yr)	34 ± 13	50 ± 10	< 0.01
Body weight (kg)	76 ± 4	64 ± 10	< 0.01
Body mass index (kg/m2)	25 ± 2.7	22 ± 3.4	< 0.01
Serum total protein (g/L)	76 ± 4	72 ± 8	< 0.05
Serum albumin (g/L)	46 ± 3.6	42 ± 8	< 0.05
Serum triacylglycerol (mg/dL)	107 ± 30	119 ± 43	NS
Serum cholesterol (mg/dL)	195 ± 26	175 ± 44	< 0.05
Glucose (mmol/L)	5 ± 0.64	7.7 ± 2.8	< 0.01
Insulin (μU/mL)	12 ± 5.2	9.1 ± 4.4	< 0.05
Homeostasis model assessment	2.7 ± 1.3	2.6 ± 1.6	NS
Leptin (ng/mL)	6.6 ± 2.9	3.9 ± 2.5	< 0.01
Hemoglobin (mg/dL)	15 ± 2.9	13 ± 1.8	< 0.01
Blood urea nitrogen (mg/dL)	11 ± 2.8	14 ± 6	NS
Creatinine (mg/dL)	0.9 ± 0.13	0.89 ± 0.22	NS
Serum amylase (U/L)	54 ± 31	65 ± 35	NS
Urine amylase (U/L)	174 ± 66	344 ± 336	< 0.05
Serum lipase (U/L)	28 ± 16	69 ± 75	< 0.05
Serum alanine aminotransferase (U/L)	21 ± 9	38 ± 38	< 0.05
Serum aspartate aminotransferase (U/L)	19 ± 5	41 ± 45	< 0.05
Serum alkaline phosphatase (U/L)	80 ± 28	104 ± 65	NS
Serum-glutamyl transpeptidase (U/L)	26 ± 14	112 ± 152	< 0.05

NS: Not significant.

Table 2 Serum concentrations of amino acids in patients with chronic pancreatitis and control subjects (mean ± SD, range)

Amino acid (μmol/L)	Control	Chronic pancreatitis	Statistical significance
Threonine	125 ± 26	99 ± 33	0.0037
Tryptophan	67 ± 21	52 ± 16	0.0043
Tyrosine	59 ± 21	45 ± 17	0.0071
Histidine	48 ± 16	37 ± 14	0.0097
Proline	201 ± 82	157 ± 61	0.026
Glutamate	46 ± 24	66 ± 39	0.034
Glutamine	307 ± 97	256 ± 86	0.044
Lysine	114 ± 36	95 ± 36	0.059
Alanine	605 ± 128	535 ± 158	0.093
Methionine	15 ± 5.8	12 ± 5.7	0.13
Valine	93 ± 28	84 ± 23	0.17
Isoleucine	34 ± 11	31 ± 8	0.3
Glycine	154 ± 52	142 ± 46	0.37
Arginine	67 ± 37	61 ± 31	0.55
Cysteine	119 ± 42	112 ± 43	0.56
Serine	43 ± 13	41 ± 14	0.57
Asparagine	51 ± 22	47 ± 24	0.58
Leucine	67 ± 20	70 ± 16	0.62
Aspartate	22 ± 8	23 ± 11	0.67
Phenylalanine	57 ± 20	58 ± 24	0.87