In the previous issue of Critical Care, Mori and colleagues demonstrate that glutamine supplementation in mechanically ventilated patients as part of parenteral nutrition increases plasma glutamine concentration and glutamine utilization, but does not mitigate protein degradation and even increases de novo glutamine production. Studies suggest that protein degradation is regulated by the degree...

The chromatographic properties of glutamine synthetase isoforms have been investigated in a wide range of higher plant leaves and shoots using ion exchange chromatography. Different patterns of glutamine synthetase isoform content were observed. Among higher plants, four patterns or groups could be recognized. The first group is characterized by having only cytosolic glutamine synthetase, where...

BACKGROUND Glutamine is a critical amino acid for the metabolism of enterocytes, lymphocytes, and other proliferating cells. Although supplementation with glutamine has been suggested for growing infants, its effect on protein metabolism has not been examined. OBJECTIVE The objective was to examine the effect of enteral glutamine or glycine on whole-body kinetics of glutamine, phenylalanine, ...

Although glutamine is considered the main precursor for citrulline synthesis, the current literature does not differentiate between the contribution of glutamine carbon skeleton vs. nonspecific nitrogen (i.e., ammonia) and carbon derived from glutamine oxidation. To elucidate the role of glutamine and nonspecific nitrogen in the synthesis of citrulline, l-[2-(15)N]- and l-[5-(15)N]glutamine and...

Glutamine, a major fuel for enterocytes, stimulates water and sodium absorption in animal models of secretory diarrhea, but data in humans are still limited. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of glutamine on jejunal absorption during hypersecretion in humans. In six healthy adults, the effects of glutamine on jejunal absorption were assessed with a triple-lumen tube on two occ...

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body and is extensively taken up in gut and liver in healthy humans. To determine whether glucocorticosteroids alter splanchnic glutamine metabolism, the effect of prednisone was assessed in healthy volunteers using isotope tracer methods. Two groups of healthy adults received 5-h intravenous infusions of l-[1-(14)C]leucine and l-[(2)H(5)]glutami...

Endogenous production of glutamine may become insufficient during critical illness. The shortage of glutamine is reflected as a decrease in plasma concentration, which is a prognostic factor for poor outcome in sepsis. Because glutamine is a precursor for nucleotide synthesis, rapidly dividing cells are most likely to suffer from a shortage. Therefore, exogenous glutamine supplementation is nec...

The effects of honey, glutamine and honey/glutamine combination on the healing and adaptive process of the bowel following massive small bowel resection were studied in some Nigerian nondescript breeds of dogs. 24 dogs (3-4 months old) of mixed sexes with mean body weight of 4.42±0.70 kg were studied. They were randomized into four treatment groups following 70% small bowel resection. Group A d...

Glutamine is the major fuel for enterocytes and promotes the growth of intestinal mucosa. Although oral glutamine exerts a positive effect on intestinal villus height in very old rats, how glutamine is used by enterocytes is unclear. Adult (8 months) and very old (27 months) female rats were exposed to intermittent glutamine supplementation for 50% of their age lifetime. Treated rats received g...

Glutamine is a conditionally essential amino acid that is an important metabolic resource for proliferating tissues by acting as a proteinogenic amino acid, a nitrogen donor for biosynthetic reactions and as a substrate for the citric acid or tricarboxylic acid cycle. The human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) productively infects activated CD4+ T cells that are known to require glutamine ...