Glycine supplemented oral rehydration solutions for diarrhoea

Two glycine supplemented oral rehydration solutions (ORS) and a standard ORS with sodium 60 mmol/l were compared for treatment of diarrhoeal dehydration in children. The solutions contained glycine 110 mmol/l and glucose 110 mmol/l (ORS60-Gly110), glycine 60 mmol/l and glucose 80 mmol/l (ORS60-Gly60), and glucose 144 mmol/l only (ORS60), respectively. The patients receiving ORS60-Gly110 had poor weight gain and increased stool and urine volumes after rehydration compared with the other two groups. The patients receiving ORS60-Gly60 had similar stool and urine volumes as those receiving standard ORS60. It is concluded that excess glycine in relation to sodium in an ORS may lead to osmotic diarrhoea, and a high amount of absorbed glycine may result in osmotic diuresis with poor net rehydration. Altogether, the present study failed to find any improvement ('Super-ORS') by addition of glycine to an ORS containing 60 mmol/l of sodium.