Is it possible to measure L-cysteine amino acid levels in the body?
The supplement N-ACETYL CYSTEINE (NAC) is increasingly popular among patients suffering from the mental and physical issues NAC claims to improve.
However, the article also states "it is found in most high-protein foods, such as chicken, turkey, yogurt, cheese, eggs, sunflower seeds and legumes".
If a patient wants to know if they are deficient or need to add more:
Is there a direct test to measure L-cysteine amino acid levels in the
body?
If not, is there an indirect test to measure correlated amino acids (such as methionine and serine)?
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Measuring the concentration of amino acids "in the body" is a bit difficult. Your body is made up of lots of cells and organs, each one of which exists in a constant state of flux and contains many proteins and amino acids.
Assuming perhaps that you meant "in the blood", then yes, such kits do exist -- e.g. this enzyme-linked spectrophotomeric assay -- www.antibodies-online.com/kit/1503021/Cysteine+ELISA+Kit/ -- but it costs €642,85 (+€40 shipping and 22% VAT) for 96 tests, and requires a molecular biology laboratory to use.
The only commonly performed similar tests I am aware of are whole plasma amino acid counts, commonly performed on infants to look for inborn errors of metabolism -- i.e. specific birth defects of metabolism. You can find an example US Hospital page here that contains the reference range for each amino acid.
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