EFFECTS OF INTRAPERITONEAL GLUTAMINE IN THE TREATMENT OF EXPERIMENTAL SEPSIS

ABSTRACT Background: Sepsis is an important public health issue and is associated with high treatment costs and high mortality rates. Glutamine supplementation has proven to be beneficial to the functions of the immune system, acting beneficially in the evolution of patients in severe catabolic states. Aim: To evaluate the effect of glutamine supplementation via intraperitoneal in rats, induced sepsis, considering the following organs: intestines, liver, kidneys and lungs. Methods: Male Wistar rats subjected to sepsis by ligature and cecal puncture were divided into two groups: control C (n=6) and glutamine G (n=11), in which were administered dipeptiven 20% at a dose of 2 ml/kg/day (equivalent to 0.4g N(2)-L-alanyl-L-glutamine/kg) intraperitoneally 48 h prior to sepsis induction. After 48 h they were euthanized and intestine, liver, lung and kidney were removed for histological analysis. Results: Intestinal epithelial desquamation of the control group was more intense compared to the glutamine group (p=0.008). In the kidneys, degenerative tubular epithelial changes were less severe in the animals that received glutamine (p=0.029). Regarding to the liver, glutamine group showed lower levels of cell swelling than the control group (p=0.034). In the lung there were no results with statistical significance. Conclusion: Prior intraperitoneal supplementation with glutamine in experimental animals is able to reduce the damage to the intestinal mucosa, to the kidneys and liver’s histoarchitecture.