Amino-acid metabolism: practice question

The best answer is A, Ammonia. Severe impairment of hepatic ammonia detoxification can raise ammonia concentrations and contribute to hepatic encephalopathy, presenting with altered cognition and asterixis in the appropriate clinical setting.

Bilirubin explains jaundice but does not alone account for encephalopathy.

Uric acid elevation causes gout and may occur in other settings.

Creatinine reflects renal filtration more than hepatic nitrogen detoxification.

It tests Amino-acid metabolism in Biochemistry. The correct option holds because: Correct: ammonia accumulation contributes to hepatic encephalopathy.

We tag it as an application question: it asks you to use a fact on a patient or a finding. The tag is our own editorial judgement, not an official difficulty rating, so read the reason for every option, not only the answer.

Build one table of enzyme deficiency, disease, inheritance and key finding, then revise it by spaced recall. Then use the flashcards and the other Biochemistry questions on this site to test what stuck.

No. It is an original practice item (editorial status: sample, version 1). NextPrep does not publish recalled or leaked questions, and independent faculty review of this item has not been completed yet, so confirm important facts in a standard textbook.