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Glutamine supplementation does not prevent bacterial translocation after non-lethal haemorrhage in rats
T Bark1, M Katouli, O Ljungquist
1Department of Surgery, Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden.
Objective:
To find out whether supplementation of an enteral diet with glutamine would reduce translocation of bacteria to mesenteric lymph nodes or blood after major haemorrhage in rats.
Design:
Open randomised study.
Setting:
University departments of surgery and microbiology, Sweden.
Material:
49 Sprague-Dawley rats.
Interventions:
Rats were fed enterally for 7 days on diets supplemented with either glutamine or an isonitrogenous amount of non-essential amino acids. After feeding, 8 experimental and 8 control rats underwent sham operation; 9 and 7, respectively, underwent moderate haemorrhage (to 65 mm Hg); and 9 and 8, respectively, underwent severe haemorrhage (50 mm Hg) without reinfusion.
Main Outcome Measures:
Microbiological analyses of samples of blood and mesenteric lymph nodes taken 24 hours after haemorrhage.
Results:
The median (interquartile) number of colony forming units/mesenteric lymph nodes after moderate haemorrhage in animals who were given glutamine supplementation was 11 (0-34) and in control animals 20 (0-178). After severe haemorrhage the corresponding figures were 199 (10-310) and 22 (0-187). No pathogens were isolated from blood cultures.
Conclusion:
Glutamine supplementation before haemorrhage did not reduce bacterial translocation to mesenteric lymph nodes in this rat model.