Massive intestinal resection in rats fed up on glutamine: hepatic glycogen content valuation.

Background: Glutamine has been widely used in treatment of small bowel syndrome and its metabolic effects on the small intestine are well known, however, it has been little studied its effects on hepatic metabolism under this condition.

Aim: To verify through experimental model, a glutamine based supplemental diet, administered via oral to rats submitted to massive intestinal resection, evaluating weight evolution and hepatic glycogen content.

Material And Methods: Male rats, Wistar, were allocated into three groups to undergo enterectomy.

Weight loss and morphometric study of intestinal mucosa in rats after massive intestinal resection: influence of a glutamine-enriched diet.

Unlabelled: Short-bowel syndrome is responsible for significant metabolic alterations that compromise nutritional status. Glutamine is considered an essential nutrient for enterocytes, so beneficial effects from supplementation of the diet with glutamine are hypothesized.

Purpose: In this study, the effect of a diet enriched with glutamine was evaluated in rats undergoing extensive small bowel resection, with analysis of postoperative weight loss and intestinal morphometrics of villi height, crypt depth, and thickness of the duodenal and remnant jejunal mucosa.