Adverse effects among amino acids in uremia

The present study was undertaken to investigate the possible role of competitive interference between arginine and histidine in uremia. The data here reported support such a hypothesis. Experimental studies were carried out in 5 normal volunteers and 9 patients with various degrees of renal failure. However, the fact that the plasma concentration of ornithine increases significantly in the presence of arginine loading, and the fact that oral lysine supplementation results in a significant depression of the plasma concentration of arginine, both suggest that there may be an interdependence between the behaviors of the 4 basic amino acids. Therefore, on the basis of these reciprocal inhibitions among arginine, histidine, lysine and ornithine, it seems justified to conclude that an increase or decrease of one or more of these basic amino acids within the body pool may be followed by either an increased or decreased requirement of one or more of the remaining amino acids.