Glutamine supplementation in catabolic patients.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative literature review synthesizing 18 clinical trials without systematic review or meta-analytic pooling.
PubMed 10200861 · doi:10.1345/aph.18200
What was done
A literature search of MEDLINE (January 1970 to December 1997) and relevant bibliographies identified English-language clinical trials and reviews evaluating enteral and parenteral glutamine supplementation in catabolic patients. The review compiled safety, metabolic, immune, and outcome data from 18 clinical trials and multiple review articles.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data, confidence intervals, or pooled effect sizes. Qualitatively, human trials indicated that glutamine supplementation was well tolerated without adverse consequences and was associated with improved nitrogen balance, increased cellular proliferation, reduced incidence of infection, and decreased length of hospital stay in certain catabolic patient groups.
Why it matters
It summarizes early clinical evidence supporting the hypothesis that glutamine behaves as a conditionally essential nutrient during critical illness and metabolic stress.
Limits
The abstract contains no quantitative metrics or statistical values. As a narrative review of studies published up to 1997, it does not apply formal meta-analytic pooling or risk of bias assessments, and the specific patient subgroups most likely to benefit remain undefined.
Cited by
- supports Glutamine is essential for immune cell activation and is metabolized by intestinal epithelial mitochondria as an energy source.