[The effect of proton therapy on the protein-amino acid metabolism in Itsenko-Cushing disease].

The composition and blood concentration of free aminoacids and other aminocompounds were investigated using automatic aminoacid analysis by a physiological program in 12 patients with diagnosed corticotropin secreting hypophyseal disease (Itsenko-Cushing disease) before and 1-3 years after proton "hypophysectomy". Imbalance of components of the glucose-alanine cycle, expressed in hypoalaninemia and raised concentration of aminoacids with a bifurcated lateral chain, was detected against a background of marked hypercorticotropinemia and hypercorticolism. Single irradiation of the pituitary gland with a proton beam at absorbed doses of 100-120 Gy in the maximum of a deep field resulted in remission and normalization of aminograms of blood plasma (suggesting pathogenicity of proton-beam therapy) for 6-12 mos. The authors discussed probable mechanisms of the interrelationship of protein-amino-acid and carbohydrate metabolic derangements and their correlation with a type of changes in the hormonal balance.