Alteration of plasma free amino acids’ level in oral squamous cell carcinoma patients using High Performance Liquid Chromatography

Abstract Objectives Oral cancer inflicts a substantial challenge worldwide being a highly lethal and disfiguring disease. Delayed diagnosis keeps the mortality high. Plasma free amino acids (PFAAs) circulate throughout the body, participating in metabolism. Subsequently, changes in PFAA profile might mirror cancer induced protein metabolism. In this context, this study aims to quantify, compare and correlate PFAAs level in OSCC and control group using High performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Methods A total of 60 samples: 30 OSCC subjects and 30 age, sex matched healthy controls were taken. Following clinical examination and histopathological confirmation, 5 ml blood was collected in a tube containing EDTA and centrifuged. The PFAAs levels were quantified using HPLC. Results Out of 19 PFAAs, concentration of aspartate, glutamate and arginine were significantly decreased and of asparagine, glutamine and cysteine were significantly increased in OSCC group. Furthermore, comparing well (group I) and moderately (group II) differentiated OSCC group, the level of asparagine was significantly decreased, and of serine significantly increased in group II. Significant alterations were also observed, when group I and II were compared to control group in the following: aspartate, glutamate, asparagine, serine, arginine and cysteine. On comparing stage III, IV OSCC group to control group the levels of aspartate, glutamate, asparagine and cysteine showed significant alterations. Conclusion Altered protein metabolism, as shown in PFAA profile may be employed as a supplementary tool for diagnosing OSCC. Meticulous study of amino acid assays may facilitate in understanding the route of metabolic derangement in OSCC patients.