A Study of Free Amino Acids In the Human Cerebrospinal Fluid

Abstract

The tedious procedure of paper chromatography of the free amino acids in the human cerebrospinal fluid was modified to allow analysis of a large number of specimens in a reasonable period of time. This was accomplished by modifying the desalting apparatus of Consden and developing an apparatus for the automatic spotting of the spinal fluid on the filter paper. Spinal fluids from 17 normal individuals were analyzed by 2-dimensional chromatography and 15 amino acids identified and quantitated. These amino acids include aspartic acid, alanine, arginine, alpha-aminobutyric acid, glycine, glutamic acid, glutamine, gamma-aminobutyric acid, lysine, phenylalanine, serine, tyrosine, threonine, valine, and leucine. The analysis of 193 spinal fluids from patients with central nervous system disease demonstrated 3 additional aminoacids; namely: proline, histidine, and cystine. In 3 disorders, the following statistically significant changes were found: (a) hereditary cerebral ataxia, increased aspartic acid, (2 cases). (b) multiple sclerosis, decreased aspartic acid and tyrosine, (7 cases). (c) presenile psychosis, decreased alanine and glycine, (5 cases).