Plasma citrulline levels predict intestinal toxicity in patients treated with pelvic radiotherapy

Figures & data

Table I. Mean ± S.D. citrulline levels and concentration changes according to diagnosis groups.

	All patients	Prostate cancer	Endometrial cancer	p
Citrulline levels (μmol/l)
Baseline	38.0 ± 10.1	39.2 ± 10.4	35.4 ± 9.1	0.2
Week 3	27.4 ± 5.9	29.3 ± 5.6	23.5 ± 4.7	0.001
End of treatment (week 8)	29.9 ± 8.8	32.8 ± 8.5	24.0 ± 6.0	<0.0001
Month 4	34.3 ± 12.1	36.8 ± 13.3	29.0 ± 6.7	0.03
Citrulline change (%)
Week 3	25.6 ± 14.6	23.2 ± 12.9	30.5 ± 16.9	0.09
End of treatment (week 8)	19.0 ± 20.6	14.2 ± 16.2	29.2 ± 30.3	0.01
Month 4	8.2 ± 7.1	5.0 ± 4.0	15.1 ± 10.8	0.2

Figure 1. Correlation between mean bowel dose and plasma citrullin level measured at week 3 of RT.

Figure 2. Correlation between mean bowel dose and plasma citrullin level measured at the end (week 8) of RT.

Figure 3. DVH according to percentage of plasma citrulline level change groups (A) at week 3 of RT and (B) at the end of RT (week 8).

Figure 4. Percentage of citrulline changes at week 3, at the end of RT (week 8), and four months after treatment. *indicates statistically significance (p < 0.05) both between groups and within groups.