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Figure 1 | Critical Care

Figure 1

From: Short-term amino acid infusion improves protein balance in critically ill patients

Figure 1

Plasma enrichments (A) and rate of appearance (B) measured with13C-phenylalanine intrinsically labeled casein protein (35.2 molar percent excess (MPE)) and with the same amount of free [2H5 ]phenylalanine (99.7 MPE) given enterally together with maltodextrin in six critically ill patients for 6 hours. The rate of appearance is an apparent rate of appearance of phenylalanine (not corrected for splanchnic extraction) into the central circulation and is calculated by dividing the enteral infusion rate of the two tracers by the plasma enrichment of each tracer at each time point. In one patient, none of the tracers escaped the splanchnic tissues, so mean values and standard deviations of five patients are shown. After about 4 hours, the rate of appearance was identical for both tracers. The individual data for these patients are given in Additional file 1.

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