The Protective Effect of Glutamine on the Intestinal Mucosa Barrier Function in Non-alcoholic Steatohepatitis Rats

Objective To explore the effect of glutamine on the intestinal mucosa barrier function in non-alcoholic steatohepatitis rats.Methods Thirty-two SD rats were divided into control group(n=8) and fat-rich diet group(n=24) randomly.Rats in control group were given normal diet,rats in fat-rich diet group were given fat-rich diet.At the end of the 8th week,8 rats from fat-rich diet group randomly were sacrefied as simple fatty liver disease group,the rest were divided into model group and glutamine treatment group.Furthermore,rats in glutamine treatment group were given glutamine after 8 weeks.All rats were sacrefied at the end of the 12th week.The level of endotoxin,D-xylose,TG,TC,ALT and AST,intestinal tissue SOD and MDA as well as intestinal mucus sIgA were measured.The pathology of liver was observed by HE stain.Results The rats' livers presented the pathology of steatohepatitis with higher serum levels of ALT and AST in the 12 weeks model group.The serum levels of ALT and AST of glutamine treatment group decreased significantly.The hepatic inflammation scores also decreased markedly(3.25±1.49 vs.4.38±1.06,P0.05),but were still higher(3.25±1.49 vs.2.00±0.76,P0.05) than those in 8 weeks' simple fatty liver disease group.The degree of hepatocyte steatosis did not change in the glutamine treatment group.The serum level of endotoxin,D-xylose and the MDA contents in intestinal tissue of glutamine treatment group decreased significantly(P0.05).The level of sIgA and the SOD activity in intestinal tissue increased significantly(P0.05).Conclusion Glutamine can decrease the level of aminotransferase and ameliorate hepatic inflammation in rats with steatohepatitis induced by fat-rich diet,decrease the level of endotoxin,but can not prevent the development of steatohepatitis.It suggests the change of intestinal mucosa barrier function is one of important factors in the pathogenesis of NASH.