Spectrophotometric assay for measuring branched-chain amino acids

PR Beckett - Methods in enzymology, 2000 - Elsevier
The branched-chain amino acids isoleucine, leucine, and valine are essential substrates for
protein synthesis, growth, and maintenance of lean body mass in animals and humans. Loss
of lean body mass because of undernutrition, disease, or trauma increases mortality.
Endocrine factors that regulate protein metabolism have been researched extensively.
However, amino acids, especially the branched-chain amino acids, also appear to regulate
protein metabolism independent of their role as a supply of substrate. 1 To investigate acute …