Catabolism steps of branched chain amino acids
“Truck hit the Ox to Death”:

• Transamination
• Oxidative decarboxylation
• Dehydrogenation

Essential amino acids
PVT. TIM HALL:

• Phe
• Val
• Thr
• Trp
• Ile
• Met
• His
• Arg
• Leu
• Lys

Pvt. is short for Private in the military.
Arg and His are considered semiessential.
Alternatively: “MATT VIL PHLy”.

Essential amino acids
“PVT. TIM HALL always argues, never tires”:

• Phe
• Val
• Thr
• Trp
• Ile
• Met
• His
• Arg
• Lue
• Lys

Always argues: the A is for Arg, not Asp.
‘Never tires': T is not Tyr, but is both Thr and Trp.

Fasting state: branched-chain amino acids used by skeletal muscles
“Muscles LIVe fast”:

• Leucine
• Isoleucine
• Valine

 AcetylCoA and acetacetylCoA: amino acids forming them
“A Lighter Lease” (A LyTr LeIs):

• A=AcetylCoA or Acetoacetyl CoA
• Ly=Lysine
• Tr=Tryptophan
• Le=Leucine
• Is=Isoleucine

BUN:creatinine elevation: causes
ABCD:

• Azotremia (pre-renal)
• Bleeding (GI)
• Catabolic status
• Diet (high protein parenteral nutrition)

Creatine phosphate: amino acid precursors
“Nice GAMs!”:

• Glycine
• Arginine
• Methionine

Gam is slang for a person’s leg, especiallay an attractive female’s leg: “Nice gams = nice legs!”
Creatine phosphate is a muscle energy store, and spontaneously converts to creatinine which is excreted in the urine in direct proportion to muscle mass: clinically useful, such as in MS Dx.

Nitric oxide: amino acid precursor
When the dentist works on your teeth, you say, “AAArg! (Arginine)” before he administersNitric Oxide (NO) to take the pain away.
Other players necessary for NO synthesis: NO synthase, Ca++, NADPH.

Urea Cycle
Ordinarily, Careless Crappers, Are Also Frivolous About Urination.

• Ornithine
• Carbamoyl
• Citrulline
• Arginosuccinate
• Aspartate
• Fumarate
• Arginine
• Urea