Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 4, 2025
Creation of Abdominal Adhesions in Mice
Published on: August 27, 2016
A randomized double-blind controlled proof-of-concept study of alanyl-glutamine for reduction of post-myomectomy
Donna R Chizen1, Dominique C Rislund2, Lynne M Robertson3
1Obstetrics and Gynecology, College of Medicine, University of Saskatchewan, SK, Canada.
Study Objective:
To test the hypothesis that intraperitoneal instillation of a single bolus dose of l-alanyl-l-glutamine (AG) will reduce the incidence, extent and/or severity of adhesions following myomectomy and establish preliminary safety and tolerability of AG in humans.
Design:
Phase 1,2 Randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study (DBRCT).
Setting:
Tertiary care gynecology surgical centre.
Patients:
Thirty-eight women who underwent myomectomies by laparoscopy (N = 38; AG-19 vs Placebo-19) or laparotomy (N = 10; AG-5 vs Placebo-5) with a scheduled second-look laparoscopy (SLL) 6-8 weeks later. Thirty-two patients in the laparoscopy arm completed SLL.
Interventions:
Bolus dose of AG or normal saline solution control (0.9% NaCl) administered intraperitoneally immediately prior to suture closure of the laparoscopic ports. The average dose was 170 mL of AG or control based on a dosing scheme of 1 g/kg bodyweight.
Measurements:
Digital recordings obtained for all procedures. The primary endpoint was reduction in the incidence, severity and extent of post-operative adhesions analyzed by intention-to-treat (ITT) approach. Three independent, blinded reviewers evaluated all operative video recordings to assess presence of adhesions. Post-hoc analysis assessed presence or absence of adhesions in the peritoneal cavity. Secondary endpoints assessed safety and tolerability of AG.
Main Results:
Administration of AG reduced the incidence, severity and/or extent of post-operative adhesions (p = 0.046). The presence of adhesions in the AG group was lower than in the Control group (p = 0.041). Adhesion improvement was achieved in 15 of 15 (100%) in the AG group versus 5 of 17 (29.6%) in the placebo group. No serious adverse events were reported. No differences in safety parameters were observed.
Conclusions:
Intraperitoneal l-alanyl-l-glutamine reduced adhesion formation in all patients following laparoscopic myomectomy. Complete absence of adhesions was achieved at all abdominal sites in 93% of patients. Results confirm AG's known effects on cellular mechanisms of adhesiogenesis and lay the foundation for new adhesion prophylaxis research and treatment.
