Amino Acids

Summary

A good way to organize amino acids is to consider them by function. The following article is a list of functional groups of amino acids and their metabolic roles in the body.

This content was created by the Metametrix Institute

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Amino acids are the basic structural building units of protein and other biomolecules; they are also utilized as an energy source. Daily intake of dietary protein is necessary to present tissue protein breakdown to supply the continuous, critical amino acid needs. Utilization of amino acids is highly tissue and time dependent. Plasma from blood drawn at any given moment will reflect the state of the dynamic flux of amino acids leaving sites such as skeletal muscle and flowing into sites of utilization in the liver, brain and other tissues. To detect metabolic disorders due to genetic polymorphisms, micronutrient deficiencies or toxicant abnormalities, urinary amino acid testing is the preferred test because levels can rise to very high values as separate amino acids spill from blood into urine.