ORAL GLUTAMINE DECREASES BACTERIAL TRANSLOCATION AND IMPROVES SURVIVAL IN EXPERIMENTAL GUT-ORIGIN SEPSIS

Background: Glutamine has been shown to be an important dietary compon ent for the maintenance of gut metabolism. The purpose of this study w as to assess the potential benefit of glutamine-enriched diets on expe rimental gut-derived sepsis. Methods: BALB/c mice were fed either 2% g lutamine-supplemented or 1% glycine-supplemented (near-isonitsogenous control) AIN-76A diets. Control mice received either nonsupplemented A IN-76A or regular Purina Rodent Laboratory Mouse Chow 5001 diets. Afte r 10 days of feeding, the mice were transfused with allogeneic blood ( from C3H/HeJ mice), and the feeding protocols were continued for an ad ditional 5 days. The mice then underwent gavage with 10(10) Escherichi a coli labeled with either indium-111 oxine or [C-14]glucose followed immediately by a 20% burn injury. Some mice were observed 10 days post burn for survival rates. Others were killed 4 hours after burn, and th e mesenteric lymph nodes, liver, and spleen were harvested to determin e radionuclide and bacterial colony counts. The percentages of viable translocated E coli were also calculated. Results: Mice fed glutamine- enriched diets had a lower degree of translocation (as measured by bot h radionuclide and bacterial counts) to the tissues than did the other groups and had an improvement in the ability to kill translocated E c oli (as measured by the percentage of viable bacteria). Survival was s ignificantly higher in the group fed 2% glutamine (81%) compared with the groups fed 1% glycine (36%), AIN-76A (35%), and Purina Rodent Labo ratory Mouse Chow 5001 (36%) diets (p < .004). Conclusions: Glutamine- supplemented enteral diets may exert important benefits in preventing gut-origin sepsis after trauma.