Muscle and plasma amino acids after injury: the role of inactivity.

The amino acid pattern following total hip replacement is characterized by increases in muscle of the branched chain amino acids (leucine, isoleucine and valine), the aromatics (phenylalanine and tyrosine) as well as methionine. The nonessential amino acids in muscle tend to decline, glutamine having the most marked change. Plasma levels of the essential amino acids increase while the nonessentials tend to decrease. This pattern differs from that observed in other catabolic states (uremia, starvation, untreated diabetes) and is significantly different from the effects of inactivity and starvation combined. This suggests that injury can be characterized by a unique pattern of muscle and plasma amino acids.