Effect of Glutamine on Activation of Nuclear Factor-κB and Expression of Tumor Necrosis Factor-α,Interleukin-6 in Infant Rats with Endotoxemia

Objective To investigate the protective mechanism of glutamine(Gln)and the relationship between nuclear factor-κB(NF-κB)activation and gut barrier by detecting the activity of NF-κB and the contents of tumor necrosis factor-α(TNF-α),interleukin-6(IL-6)of gut in infant rats with endotoxemia.Methods Eighteen-day postnatals were randomly divided into normal control group(NS group),lipopolysaccharide group(LPS group)and Gln group.According to the survival time after injecting lipopolysaccharide,LPS group and Gln group were divided into 2 h,6 h,12 h and 24 h groups.Rats in LPS group and Gln group were injected lipopolysaccharide into abdominal cavity with a dose of 5 mg· kg-1.Rats in Gln group were given Gln(2 g· kg-1)by mouth at the same time.In the NS group,the same dose sodium chloride were injected.The pathologicl changes in the animals intestines were observed by the light microscope and the electron microscope.And the levels of TNF-α,IL-6 were detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA)and the activity of NF-κB was detected by immunohistochemistry.Results The activity of NF-κB,levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in LPS group were evidently higher than those in NS group(Pa0.01),the peak appeared at 2 hours of activity of NF-κB and level of TNF-α,IL-6.Compared with LPS group,the activity of NF-κB,levels of TNF-α and IL-6 in Gln group were significantly decreased(Pa0.01),and the damage of intestinal mucosa were reduced.Conclusion NF-κB participates in the intestinal damage induced by endotoxemia.Gln has a protective effect on intestine barrier induced by endotoxemia.The mechanism may involve in degrading the activtity of NF-κB and decreasing the production of TNF-α and IL-6.