• Longxiang Su, Hua Li, Aimei Xie, Dan Liu, Weiqiao Rao, Liping Lan, Xuan Li, Fang Li, Kun Xiao, Huijuan Wang, Peng Yan, Xin Li, and Lixin Xie.
• Department of Respiratory Diseases, Chinese PLA General Hospital, Beijing, China; Department of Critical Care Medicine, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Peking Union Medical College & Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, Beijing, China.
• Plos One. 2015 Jan 1;10(4):e0121933.

ObjectivesThe goal of this work was to explore the dynamic concentration profiles of 42 amino acids and the significance of these profiles in relation to sepsis, with the aim of providing guidance for clinical therapies.MethodsThirty-five critically ill patients with sepsis were included. These patients were further divided into sepsis (12 cases) and severe sepsis (23 cases) groups or survivor (20 cases) and non-survivor (15 cases) groups. Serum samples from the patients were collected on days 1, 3, 5, 7, 10, and 14 following intensive care unit (ICU) admission, and the serum concentrations of 42 amino acids were measured.ResultsThe metabolic spectrum of the amino acids changed dramatically in patients with sepsis. As the disease progressed further or with poor prognosis, the levels of the different amino acids gradually increased, decreased, or fluctuated over time. The concentrations of sulfur-containing amino acids (SAAs), especially taurine, decreased significantly as the severity of sepsis worsened or with poor prognosis of the patient. The serum concentrations of SAAs, especially taurine, exhibited weak negative correlations with the Sequential Organ Failure Assessment (SOFA) (r=-0.319) and Acute Physiology and Chronic Health Evaluation (APACHE) II (r=-0.325) scores. The areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves of cystine, taurine, and SAA levels and the SOFA and APACHE II scores, which denoted disease prognosis, were 0.623, 0.674, 0.678, 0.86, and 0.857, respectively.ConclusionsCritically ill patients with disorders of amino acid metabolism, especially of SAAs such as cystine and taurine, may provide an indicator of the need for the nutritional support of sepsis in the clinic.Trial RegistrationClinicalTrial.gov identifier NCT01818830.

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