Browsing by Author "Somani, Ally-Khan B."

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    Higher susceptibility to sunburn is associated with decreased plasma glutamine and increased plasma glutamate levels among US women: An analysis of the Nurses' Health Study I and II
    (Elsevier, 2021) Yang, Keming; Li, Xin; Zeleznik, Oana A.; Eliassen, A. Heather; Clish, Clary B.; Cho, Eunyoung; Somani, Ally-Khan B.; Qureshi, Abrar A.; Giovannucci, Edward L.; Nan, Hongmei; Epidemiology, School of Public Health
    To the Editor: The metabolism of glutamine and glutamate, 2 important amino acids synthesized in the human body, may have an etiologic role in melanoma, an aggressive skin malignancy. 1 , 2 Preclinical experiments and clinical trials have found that metabotropic glutamate receptor 1 blocker and glutamate release inhibitor (eg, Riluzole) can suppress melanoma cell migration, invasion, and proliferation. 2 Additionally, inhibiting glutaminase, the enzyme that converts glutamine to glutamate, further reduced glutamate bioavailability and suppressed tumor progression. 1 Susceptibility to sunburn, a pigmentary trait, is a well-known risk factor for melanoma. 3 However, it is unclear whether plasma glutamate and glutamine are affected by this host factor even before cancer onset.