Oral feeding with glutamine prevents lymphocyte and glutathione depletion of Peyer's patches in endotoxemic mice

Objective To determine the effect of oral glutamine feeding on lymphocyte subpopulati ons and glutathione metabolism in Peyer's patches (PPs) of healthy and endo toxemic mice. Summary Background Data Recent data indicate that nutrients both maintain nitrogen and energy balan ces and modulate cell and organ function. In particular, glutamine has an i mpact on gut and immune function. This is of special importance in the peri operative phase. Methods Female Balb/c mice were fed a glutamine-enriched diet or a control diet for 10 days. On day 7 25 mug lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or saline was injected. On day 3 after the challenge, mice were killed, total cell yield was determ ined, and lymphocyte subpopulations (total T cells, CD4+, CD8+ cells, and B cells) were analyzed by flow cytometry. One experimental group was treated with buthionine sulfoximine, a specific inhibitor of glutathione synthesis . The glutathione content in PPs was measured by high-performance liquid ch romatography, Results Glutamine administration led to a significant increase in total cell yield, including T and B cells, in PPs, The LPS-induced reduction of T cells (-45 %) and of B cells (-30%) was significantly lower in glutamine-treated mice. Endotoxemia caused a 42% decrease of glutathione in control animals, but n ot in glutamine-treated animals. As with LPS, buthionine sulfoximine also l owered lymphocyte numbers and glutathione content of the PPs. Conclusions Administration of glutamine prevents LPS-stimulated lymphocyte atrophy in P Ps, possibly by increasing the glutathione content in the PPs, Therefore, o ral glutamine supply seems to be a suitable approach for improving intestin al immunity in immunocompromised patients.