Disease linked to amino acid deficiency.

• Position: Sickle Cell Anemia - Brief Article

An amino acid deficiency in sickle cell anemia patients is the result of hemolysis, a process where red blood cells rupture and release their contents into the bloodstream, reports a study from Children's Hospital & Research Center, Oakland, Calif. Low availability of the amino acid arginine is associated with lung disease and death in adult sickle cell patients.

The study supports new therapeutic strategies aimed at increasing arginine levels either through nutritional supplements or by developing new drug therapies that disable the arginase enzyme that consumes arginine.

"Lower amino acid ratios, which indicate low arginine availability, were found in patients who had more severe pulmonary hypertension, a condition involving high blood pressure in arteries carrying blood from the heart to small vessels in the lungs," points out Claudia Morris, an Emergency Department physician. "This...