Nutritional effects of a D-methionine-containing solution on AH109A hepatoma-bearing rats

The effects or a D-methionine-containing solution (DMCS) on the nutritional status of AH109A hepatoma-bearing rats receiving total parenteral nutritio n were studied. The DMCS solution inhibited the decrease of transferrin in the plasma of tumor-bearing rats when compared with the effect of an L-meth ionine-containing solution. The survival time was also significantly prolon ged in the DMCS-treated rats. These results indicate that DMCS had a benefi cial effect on the malnutrition induced in tumor-bearing rats and would be a useful amino acid solution for the nutritional support of cancer patients .