Wusteman M, Tate H, Weaver L, Austin S, Neale G, Elia M
MRC Dunn Nutrition Unit, Cambridge, United Kingdom.
JPEN J Parenter Enteral Nutr. 1995 Jan-Feb;19(1):22-7. doi: 10.1177/014860719501900122.
An aseptic model of tissue injury (the induction of abscesses by subcutaneous injections of turpentine) was used to examine the proposal that changes in glutamine metabolism lead to structural damage in the epithelium of the small intestine during the systemic response to injury and to investigate the role of dietary glutamine in the maintenance of mucosal structure in the small intestine of control and injured rats.
Glutamine-free and glutamine-rich (3.6% glutamine by weight) diets were fed to rats before and during an acute-phase response to injury. Pair-fed groups of animals enabled an independent assessment to be made of the effects of the associated dietary restriction on the mucosal epithelium.
Adaptive increases in villus height and crypt depth were seen in response to 4 days of feeding of the glutamine diet. Pair-feeding (30% dietary restriction) of either diet induced mucosal atrophy (loss of wet weight and nitrogen) without changes in villus height or crypt depth in the proximal tercile of the small intestine. Systemic injury, however, had no effect on the weight or nitrogen content of the mucosa (relative to pair-feeding). Gross histologic appearance, villus height, and crypt depth were also unchanged by the response to injury.
The study provided no evidence to support the proposal that alterations in the availability of dietary glutamine during systemic injury (induced by turpentine injections) lead to structural damage to the epithelium.
