Glutamine protects the small intestinal mucosa in anticancer drug-induced rat enteritis model

Abstract

Supportive therapy during chemotherapy has become essential, but effective preventive therapies to gastrointestinal mucosal injury are few. We investigated the efficacy of glutamine in rat anticancer drug-induced enteritis model. In this study, we used twenty male SD rats. They were divided into control, 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) (orally administered at 20 mg/kg day), 5-FU+glutamine (1000 mg/kg/day) and 5-FU+glutamine+fiber and oligosaccharide (GFO(®)) (1000 mg/kg/day) groups. All groups were sacrificed on day 6 and upper jejunums were excised. The jejunal villous height was measured in specimens. IgA level in jejunal washing solution, and serum diamine oxidase activity were also measured. The jejunal villous height was recognized as shorter in the specimen from 5-FU treated rats compared with 5-FU+glutamine treated rats (p<0.001). Serum diamine oxidase activity in 5-FU+glutamine group were significantly superior to that in 5-FU group (p=0.028). IgA level in jejunal washing solution tended to be higher in 5-FU+glutamine group than that in 5-FU group (p=0.076). On the other hand, serum diamine oxidase activity and IgA level in jejunal washing solution showed no significant difference between 5-FU+GFO and 5-FU treatment group. Our results suggest that glutamine showed protective effects on mucosal injury of small intestine in rat anticancer drug-induced enteritis model.

Free Amino Acids in Human Milk: A Potential Role for Glutamine and Glutamate in the Protection Against Neonatal Allergies and Infections

“…Moreover, in newly weaned piglets, dietary glutamine decreased the proportion of antigen-naïve T cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes (153), which are reported to be elevated in allergic patients and are proposed as an early life marker for future development of allergies (154,155). Finally, dietary glutamine increased the number of IgA-secreting B cells in the small intestine of young mice (156) and enhanced intestinal levels of IgA in various weaning animals (157)(158)(159)(160)(161). Together, these results indicate that glutamine availability influences immune cell populations in developing intestinal tissues, which in turn may influence antimicrobial and anti-allergic immune processes.…”

Glutamine-Induced Secretion of Intestinal Secretory Immunoglobulin A: A Mechanistic Perspective

“…Targets to increase secretion of intestinal SIgA are promising and directed at mitigating pathogenesis of diseases. Compelling evidence from well-designed investigations have shown that glutamine supplementation increases the abundance of SIgA in the intestine in various hosts, including rats (4, 5), mice (6, 7), Chinese Holstein calves (8), pigs (9), humans (10), and even broiler chickens (11). Similarly, we found that glutamine supplementation increases SIgA in the luminal contents of the jejunum and ileum, and the number of IgA + plasma cells in the ileum in mice (12).…”

The synergystic effects of omega-3 fatty acids against 5-fluorouracil-induced mucosal impairment in mice

“…In the present study, secretory IgA concentrations were lower in the 5-FU treated groups, and the EPA/DHA-rich diet resulted in higher IgA concentrations than the other diets, suggesting a protective and preserved effect on intestinal immunity. In this study, we measured IgA in intestinal washing according to our previous work [23] but could not provide the variability of the assay in this matrix.…”