What is amino acid quantitation?

Also known as: AACSF, CSF amino acids, amino acids quantitative, cerebral spinal fluid, cerebral spinal fluid amino acid test

Patients born with inborn errors of amino acid metabolism may have a variety of different medical conditions related to metabolism. These diseases typically become evident in infancy or early childhood. An amino acid quantitation test of cerebral spinal fluid is useful in diagnosing these disorders.

Amino acids are the building blocks of the proteins found in blood. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) is the fluid produced from blood plasma which surrounds the brain and spinal cord, and normally, (depending on the age of an infant/child), variable amounts of amino acids are found in the CSF. A CSF amino acid test examines the amounts and types of amino acids found in the CSF and can be useful in diagnosing different disorders/diseases involving the brain and spinal cord.

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Reviewed by: Paul Cardenas, MD

This page was last updated on: 1/29/2019 3:21:13 PM