Clinical study on the protective effects of glutamine on intestinal mucosa and body immunity after severe burns

Objective To study the function of glutamine in maintaining intestinal mucosa barrier in patients with severe burns.Methods The cases of severe burns enrolled in this study were randomly divided into treatment and control groups.The patients in the treatment group took 10 grams of glutamine orally three times daily but those in the control group took the same dose of sodium chloride as placebo.Indexes including diamine oxidase(DAO),D-lactate,IgG,IgM,CD4+/CD8+ and transferrin were measured on days 1,3,7 and 14 after burns.Results Compared with those in the control group,the levels of DAO and D-lactate in the treatment group did not change obviously,but significantly decreased 7 and 14 days after burns.The values of IgG,IgM,CD4+ and CD4+/CD8+ were significantly higher than those in the control group on the 14th day;the level of transferrin was also higher than that in the control group on days 7 and 14.Conclusion Administration of glutamine will be beneficial to maintaining the barrier function for intestinal mucosa after severe burns,and the immune function and nutritional condition of patients will also be improved to some extent.