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Ornithine Metabolism in Normal Subjects and Patients with Cancer

University of California, Los Angeles
UCLA School of Medicine, Los Angeles, California

Correspondence: For reprints contact: M. M. Webber, MD, Div. of Nuclear Medicine, Dept. of Radiological Sciences, UCLA Center for the Health Sciences, Los Angeles, CA 90024.

ABSTRACT

The metabolism of L-(1-¹⁴C)ornithine monohydrochloride was monitored in patients with histologically proven cancer and in normal volunteers. Following i.v. injection of 8 µCi C-14 ornithine (160 nmoles), the decarboxylation of ornithine—yielding ¹⁴CO₂—was monitored for a 2.5-hr period using the ionization chamber and vibrating-reed electrometer of Tolbert, as modified by Davidson and Schwabe. Twelve normal subject sex haled 7.3–15.7% of the administered C-14 (mean 12.6%, s.d. 3.11%). In ten patients tested before initiation of therapy, recovery ranged from 18.2–32.1% (mean 23.02%, s.d. 4.52%). A t-test indicates a confidence level of >99.5% that a significant difference exists between the two means. Re-testing of two normal volunteers showed little or no change in ornithine metabolism over a 2–5-mo period. Results from testing three cancer patients before and after therapy correlate well with clinical evidence of the presence of tumor burden.