Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-t5tsf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-18T00:16:46.374Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Free amino acids in milks of human subjects, other primates and non-primates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 March 2007

G. Sarwar ,
H. G. Botting ,
T. A. Davis ,
P. Darling  and
P. B. Pencharz
G. Sarwar*
Affiliation:
Nutrition Research Division, Health Canada (AL:2203 C), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OL2
H. G. Botting
Affiliation:
Nutrition Research Division, Health Canada (AL:2203 C), Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A OL2
T. A. Davis
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, Baylor College of Medicine, United States Department of Agriculture, Houston, TX 77030, USA
P. Darling
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1X8
P. B. Pencharz
Affiliation:
Department of Pediatrics, University of Toronto, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Ontario, Canada M5G 1X8
*
*Corresponding author: Dr G. Sarwar, fax +1 613 941 6182, email [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Preterm and term transitional milks of human subjects and mature milks of human subjects, non-human primates and non-primates were analysed for free amino acids (AA) using precolumn phenylisothiocyanate derivatization and liquid chromatography. Differences in free AA between three types of human milk were small. Milks of pinnipeds (seals and sea lions) contained the highest levels of total free AA (8634–20 862 μmol/1), while the milks of cows and sheep had the lowest levels of total free AA (1061–1357 μmol/1). The milks of human subjects, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes), gorillas (Gorilla gorilla), elephants (Elephas maximus), horses and pigs had intermediate levels of total free AA (3069–7381 μmol/1). Glutamic acid was the most abundant free AA in milks of human subjects (1339–2157 μmol/1), non-human primates (423–2528 μmol/1), elephants (1332 μmol/1), horses (1119 μmol/1), and cows (349 μmol/1). Taurine was the most abundant free AA in milks of pinnipeds (5776–13 643 μmol/1), pigs (1238 μmol/1), goats (1150 μmol/1) and sheep (341 μmol/1). Taurine was the second most abundant free AA in milks of human subjects and non-human primates, while histidine was the second most abundant free AA in milks of pinnipeds. Milks of each species had a distinctive free AA pattern which may reflect the relative importance of the free AA during early postnatal development.

Keywords

Amino acidsMilk
Type
Short Communication
Information
British Journal of Nutrition , Volume 79 , Issue 2 , February 1998 , pp. 129 - 131
Copyright
Copyright © The Nutrition Society 1998

References

Davis, TA, Nguyen, HV, Costa, DP & Reeds, PJ (1995) Amino acid composition of pinniped milk. Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology HOB, 633–639.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Davis, TA, Nguyen, HV, Garcia-Bravo, R, Fiorotto, ML, Jackson, EM, Lewis, DS & Reeds, PJ (1994 a) Amino acid composition of human milk is not unique. Journal of Nutrition 124, 1126–1132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Davis, TA, Nguyen, HV, Garcia-Bravo, R, Fiorotto, ML, Jackson, EM & Reeds, PJ (1994 b) Amino acid composition of the milk of some mammalian species changes with stage of lactation. British Journal of Nutrition 72, 845–853.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Kendler, BS (1989) Taurine: an overview of its role in preventive medicine. Preventive Medicine 18, 79–100.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Massart, DL & Kaufman, L (1983) The Interpretation of Analytical Chemical Data by the Use of Cluster Analysis. Toronto: J. Wiley & Sons.Google Scholar
Oftedal, OT, Boness, DJ & Tedman, RA (1987) The behavior, physiology, and anatomy of lactation in the pinnipedia. In Current Mammalogy, pp. 175–245 [Genoways, HH, editor]. New York: Plenum Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pamblanco, M, Portolés, M, Paredes, C, Ten, A & Comin, J (1989) Free amino acids in preterm and term milk from mothers delivering appropriate- or small-for-gestational-age infants. American Journal of Clinical Nutrition 50, 778–781.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Rassin, DK, Sturman, JA & Gaull, GE (1978) Taurine and other free amino acids in milk of man and other mammals. Early Human Development 2, 1–13.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Sarwar, G & Botting, GH (1990) Rapid analysis of nutritionally important free amino acids in serum and organs (liver, brain and heart) by liquid chromatography of precolumn phenylisothio-cyanate derivatives. Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists 73, 470–475.Google ScholarPubMed
Sarwar, G, Darling, P, Ujiie, M, Botting, HG & Pencharz, PB (1996) Use of amino acid profiles of preterm and term human milks in evaluating scoring patterns for routine protein quality assessment of infant formulas. Journal of the Association of Official Analytical Chemists International 79, 498–502.Google ScholarPubMed