It is a necessary amino acid and thus crucial in the diet of man. It is only synthesized in the microorganisms.
Threonine is helpful in the stabilization of blood sugar because it can be transformed into glucose in the liver by the procedure of gluconeogenesis. Persons who have undergone burns or trauma have been found to have greater urinary spill of threonine, representative that it is mobilized from tissues after a trauma. New research indicates that increasing threonine intake during these periods may help in the recovery after injury. Too much use of threonine can cause the formation of too much urea and as result ammonia toxicity in your body. And serine and glycine can be synthesized from this amino acid.
Threonine is known to require vitamin B6, magnesium and niacin for its optimal use and metabolism in the body. It is therapeutically helpful when administered along with the branched chain amino acids valine, isoleucine and leucine.
Method of Action
Degradation of the branched chain amino acids creates a series of branched fatty acid whose use leads to the formation of fatty acids that can be included into complex phospholipids. The branched chain amino acids have an exclusive muscle sparing capability due to their gluconeogenic activity
Sources of threonine
* Foods high in threonine include:
* Cottage cheese (dry) 2,000 mg/cup
* Cottage cheese 1,434 mg/cup
* Poultry 2,000-4,000 mg/lb
* Peanuts, roasted w skin 2,000 mg/cup
* Sesame seeds 1,500 mg/cup
* Dry, whole lentils 1,750 mg/cup
* Fish & other seafood 800-6,500 mg/lb
* Meats 1,000-4,500 mg/lb
Benefits of threonine
It is necessary to help maintain the appropriate protein balance in the body, as well as it also helps in the creation of collagen and elastin in the skin.
Threonine is a significant part of many proteins in the body and is essential for the creation of tooth enamel.
It is more concerned in liver functioning (including fighting fatty liver), lipotropic functions when joint with aspartic acid and methionine as well as assisting the immune system by helping the production of antibodies and promote thymus enlargement and activity.
Threonine is helpful in the stabilization of blood sugar because it can be transformed into glucose in the liver by the procedure of gluconeogenesis.
It also helps in the recovery later than the injury. One study has exposed that a cream containing cysteine, glycine and DL-threonine may help decrease the pain and reduce healing time of leg ulcers due to poor circulation.
The position of threonine in the functioning of the nervous system is highlighted by the body's improved demand for this amino acid during times of stress. It has been used as a supplement to help alleviate anxiety and a number of cases of depression.
Additional nutrients are also improved absorbed when threonine is present and it has also been used as part cure of mental health.
Deficiency symptoms of threonine
It is a precursor of isoleucine and imbalance may outcome if the synthesis rate from asparate is wrong.
In humans deficiency may outcome in irritability and a usually difficult character.
Symptoms of high intake
No symptoms of high eating are known. People with kidney disease or liver disease should discuss with their doctor earlier than taking threonine.
Daily requirement
Therapeutic doses of threonine range from 300 to 1,200 mg per day. These doses are suggested to complete the deficiency in the diet. Higher doses must be taken under medical supervision as it may outcome in toxicity.
Important facts
Serum threonine concentration was determined during the primary month of life in 163 low birth weight infants fed on human milk, various adapted formulae or total parenteral nutrition. On the pooled data, an important positive relationship was found between the serum threonine attentiveness and threonine intake. However, the raise of the serum threonine level is more noticeable in the infants with the lowest actual gestational age; with a high threonine intake, the most premature infants have serum threonine levels two times as high (58.1 vs 31.7 microM/dl) as term infants. So threonine metabolism seems to be impeding in preterm infant. Considering the cord blood concentration of threonine (26.8 +/- 5.1 microM/dl) and the possible hazardous effect of hyperthreoninemia, it is suggested that threonine intake should not exceed 1200 microM (143 mg)/kg bodyweight/day in premature infants and that the amino acid composition of the diet should probably be modified in order to satisfy their protein requirement.
