Amino acid absorption of plasmapheresed serum by resins and charcoal.

The amino acid absorption capacity of two types of charcoal and six forms of ion exchange resin has been assessed. To plasmapheresed serum obtained from human donors amino acids were added to stimulate the levels seen in hepatic failure. This was passed through columns of either resin or charcoal over three hours. The amino acid absorption was estimated. Charcoal consistently removed greater amounts of essential amino acids than resin. None of the ion exchange resins were found to be effective in amino acid absorption.