Prevention of bacterial translocation using glutamine: a new strategy of investigation

Objective This study investigated the role of glutamine (Gln) on bacterial translocation in an intestinal obstruction model by using Escherichia coli labeled with technetium 99m (99mTc-E. coli). Methods Intestinal obstruction was performed by a single ligature of the terminal ileum in rats. Animals in the control group (group 1) were sham operated (not obstructed). Experimental group 2 had intestinal obstruction. Groups 1 and 2 were not treated with Gln. Groups 3 and 4 were treated with Gln for 7 d before surgery with 250 and 500 mg · kg−1 · d−1, respectively. A suspension containing 100 million colony-forming units/mL of 99mTc-E. coli was injected into the lumen of the ileum. Twenty-four hours after surgery, blood, mesenteric lymph nodes, livers, spleens, and lungs were collected for determination of radioactivity. The Mann-Whitney U test was performed for statistical analysis. P ≤ 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results Rats that had an intestinal obstruction showed a significant increase in 99mTc-E. coli translocation from the lumen to all organs investigated compared with the sham-operated group (P ≤ 0.01). There was a significant difference between the intestinally obstructed group and Group 4 treated with Gln at 500 mg · kg−1 · d−1 (P ≤ 0.05), which did not occur in Group 3 treated with Gln at 250 mg · kg−1 · d−1. Conclusions The new method using 99mTc-E. coli was found to be suitable for studies of bacterial translocation. Gln did not prevent bacterial translocation but did significantly decrease the spread of 99mTc-E. coli among organs such as the liver, lung, and spleen. The effect of Gln in cases of intestinal obstruction was found to be dose dependent.