Latest news with #aminoacids
RNZ News
5 days ago
- Health
- RNZ News
What's protein, why do we need it, and how do you get more?
Photo: 123RF Distinguished professor Paul Moughan from The Riddet Institute is an expert in all things protein related. The Riddet Institute is a Centre of Research Excellence (CoRE) focusing on fundamental and advanced food research. It's hosted by Massey University on the Palmerston North campus. Dr Moughan answers some questions from the Country Life team. Protein is a very important component for the human body. It's central to body function and therefore to nutrition. We get proteins from the foods we eat - we don't need protein itself but rather the amino acids that are the building blocks of protein. When we eat protein, it gets broken down to amino acids and it is those that are absorbed. There are nine essential amino acids. Some foods can supply all nine of those amino acids readily, while others might be deficient in one of those essential amino acids. Follow Country Life on Apple Podcasts , Spotify , iHeart or wherever you get your podcasts. The amount of protein we need depends on a persons age and weight. The average adult needs about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight - so a person who weighs 80kg needs about 65g of protein per day. Again though it comes back to the quality of the protein and the amino acids you can get from it. From a lesser quality protein you might need more to get the same benefit. We also need more protein as we age - about 1.5g compared to 0.8g. Generally there's no such thing as too much protein for most people. Distinguished professor Paul Moughan from the Riddet Institute. Photo: Supplied There are major differences between proteins. Consumer information is pretty poor. Looking at the protein content on a product's label is a good starting point but it doesn't speak to the quality of the protein. As a general rule, animal-based proteins - so milk, dairy- based proteins, egg, meat, fish - are all very high quality. They have all the amino acids you need and they're highly digestible and highly available. Soyabean-based foods like tofu and tempeh are also high quality. Peas and beans tend to be high in protein but the quality is not always high. A lot of the vegetable-based proteins are less good quality so you would need to consume more of them. Pea and potato-based proteins can be good for vegan or vegetarian diets though. In the past it didn't matter too much because we generally consumed mixtures of proteins. Now there's a movement worldwide to go away from animal-based proteins more towards vegetable-based proteins and as we do that we need to be more careful. There have been studies of vegan and vegetarian diest which have found people were not meeting their total protein requirements in terms of quality. Protein quality is going to become more of an issue. When we look at future world food needs, because the world population is growing, it's also ageing, protein is going to become a major consideration. I personally think it shouldn't be vegetable or animal. It needs to be vegetable and animal. It may be very appropriate to move towards more vegetable-based foods but I think people who completely exclude animal-based foods may well be entering into the territory of nutritional inadequacy and problems with their diet. It's all about balance.
Medscape
23-05-2025
- Health
- Medscape
EMA Recommends Treatment for Maple Syrup Urine Disease
The Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) of the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has granted an exceptional circumstances positive opinion for Maapliv, a solution of amino acids intended for the treatment of maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) in patients presenting with an acute decompensation episode from birth and who are not eligible for an oral and enteral branched-chain amino acids (BCAA)-free formulation. MSUD is a rare genetic disorder of BCAA metabolism. In this condition, buildup of toxic metabolites from BCAAs produced from protein breakdown leads to significant and potentially irreversible developmental effects. It may cause metabolic derangements, cerebral edema, seizures, coma, and respiratory failure, and it may be fatal. It affects fewer than 0.1 in 10,000 people in the EU, equivalent to fewer than 5000 people. This is below the ceiling for orphan drug designation (5 in 10,000). In 2020, the EMA granted orphan designation to a solution of amino acids not containing any BCAAs, intended to be given by infusion to replace other sources of amino acids. At the time, the EMA said, there were no suitable treatments authorized in the EU for MSUD, and patients were managed with strict diets to control the amount of BCAAs taken in from proteins. Some forms of the disorder also responded to vitamin B supplements. Some patients needed hospitalization for enteral feeding or procedures to filter BCAAs directly from the blood. Other patients were judged suitable for liver transplantation, which restores the ability to break down BCAAs. Medicine Reduces Harmful Amino Acids Maapliv, manufactured by Recordati Rare Diseases, is a combination of amino acids free of BCAA. It is used as a solution for infusion in combination with carbohydrate and lipid supplementation to prevent or reverse protein catabolism and promote anabolism in patients with MSUD decompensation, thereby reducing harmful alpha-keto acid levels. The CHMP said that leucine normalization had been shown in patients with MSUD decompensation who are given Maapliv in five scientific publications that reported on parenteral use of BCAA-free solutions with the same formulation as Maapliv. Treatment with Maapliv should be initiated under the supervision of a physician experienced in the management of MSUD disease. Detailed recommendations for the use of Maapliv will be described in the summary of product characteristics, which will be published on the EMA website in all official European Union languages after the marketing authorization has been granted by the European Commission.
