title: Effect of a glutamine-supplemented diet on response to methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infection in mice.
abstract: The following study was undertaken to determine whether dietary supplementation with glutamine can be used to modulate the immune response following challenge with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) organisms in mice. Thirty BALB/c female mice were randomized into 3 groups: group A (n = 10) were fed 20% casein diet (control), whereas the mice in Groups B (n = 10) and C (n = 10) were given 20% casein diet supplemented with 2 and 4% glutamine, respectively. The diets were made isonitrogenous by glycine and alanine supplementation. On the 10th day on these treatments, each mouse was challenged intravenously with 2 x 10(8) colony-forming units (CFU)/ml of MRSA organisms and mortality was noted for 20 days. The survival rate in Group A (20%) tended to be lower than the rates in Group B (40%), and Group C (70%). CFU values of spleen and kidney of the surviving mice 20 days post challenge were not different among the three groups (p < 0.05). The present results suggest that dietary glutamine supplementation may be effective as a nutritional immunomodulator for the recovery from MRSA infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food and Nutrition, Kumamoto Women's University, Japan.
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Suzuki
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Matsumoto
authors.forename: A A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Adjei
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Asato
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Shinjo
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yamamoto
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight / Q000187:drug effects; D004032:Diet; D004352:Drug Resistance, Microbial; D005260:Female; D005973:Glutamine / Q000008:administration & dosage / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007668:Kidney / Q000473:pathology; D008712:Methicillin; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D009929:Organ Size / Q000187:drug effects; D013154:Spleen / Q000473:pathology; D013203:Staphylococcal Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000401:mortality; D015996:Survival Rate
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine; D008712:Methicillin