Glutamine supplementation does not prevent bacterial translocation after non-lethal haemorrhage in rats.

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.