Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometric analyses of the amino acid profiles of normal and malnourished children treated at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital

Abstract

Children require dietary protein for growth. The nutritional quality of proteins is influenced by their amino acid composition. Amino acids are required for life, contributing to homeostasis, immunity, growth, and development. In this preliminary study, we used liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) to determine the amino acid profiles of glycine, alanine, proline, valine, leucine, ornithine, methionine, phenylalanine, arginine, citrulline, tyrosine, aspartic acid, and glutamic acid of normal and malnourished children treated at Cipto Mangunkusumo Hospital. A total of 60 subjects were analyzed from December 2016 to April 2017. Dry blood spots were analyzed using LC-MS/MS. The study subjects comprised 12 malnourished and 18 normal children. The mean weight, height, and z-score (weight-for-age, height-for-age, and weight-for-height) were significantly lower in the malnourished group. The coefficients of variation percentage among runs ranged from 1.76% to 12.03%. There was no significant difference between the amino acid profiles of the normal and malnourished groups, although the concentrations of glycine and glutamate were significantly higher in the malnourished group.