[Concentration of serum and 24-hour urine free amino acids in children with the la Tourette syndrome].

Twenty children with generalized tic (Gilles de la Tourette's disease) were examined for the aminoacid spectrum of both blood serum and urine (in 13 cases) and of the urine (in 7 cases). Eight normal age-matched children served as a control group. A statistically significant elevation in the levels of asparaginic acid, threonine and serine was found in the serum of children with generalized tic. Increased concentrations of these acids in the urine were also statistically significant. Such changes in the content of aminoacids do not seem to be the primary link in the pathogenesis of the disease but may reflect certain metabolic disorders and be the manifestations of some clinical characteristics of the disease.