Glutathione Metabolism Of Glutamine In Parenteral Nutrition Regulation, Protection Of Basic And Clinical Research Of The Liver Mechanism

Purpose: Glutathione (GSH) is a major antioxidant which protects tissues from free radical injury. 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) results in the drug toxicity of target tissues by depleting of tissue GSH concentration. Glutamine (GLN) augments host defenses and may be important in GSH synthesis. Alanyl-glutamine (ALA-GLN) has the same biological effect as glutamine. Our purpose was to investigate the relationship between ALA-GLN and GSH biosynthesis which may be effective for hepatic protection.Methods & results: 20 male Wistar rats were randomly divided into two groups receiving standard parenteral nutrition (STD) supplemented with or without alanyl-glutamine (ALA-GLN) for 7 days. After the antineoplastic agent 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) was injected, the concentration measurements were significantly differences in ALA-GLN group compared with STD animals in serum GLN (687.3 ± 49.8 v.s 504.9 ± 38.6 uMol/L, P<0.05), serum GSH (14.37 ±5.16v.s 7.08 ±3.16uMol/L, P<0.01) and in liver GSH content (6.86 ± 2.46 v.s 4.38 ± 1.63 uMol/g liver tissue, P<0.05). Rats in ALA-GLN group have lesser elevations in hepatic enzymes after 5-FU administration.