Nutritional and clinical efficacy of ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate in severe burn patients.
Ornithine alpha-Ketoglutarate (OKG) displays anabolic and anticatabolic properties in situations of stress. However, studies including both biological and clinical end points are scarce. In this prospective, randomized and double-blind study, 60 patients who had undergone severe burns (20-60% of body surface area) received either ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate (20 g/day) or an isocaloric placebo, for 21 days, starting mean 4 days after injury. In the OKG group, nitrogen balance reached positive values at d5 and stabilized at higher levels vs controls (P< 0.05 or less from day 3 to day 21), resulting in a strongly positive cumulated nitrogen balance at day 21 (mean +/- SEM, OKG group: +127 +/- 13;


METHODS
-63 +/- 18g nitrogen). As measured at day 21, transthyretin and RBP levels were higher in the OKG group (respectively 259 +/- 9 vs 161 +/- 10, and 45 +/- 1 vs 33 +/- 1 mg/l, P< 0.001). Body weight loss was counteracted at d21 in the OKG group (-2.6% vs -6.3%, P< 0.001). Assessment of the quality of wound healing using objective scoring showed better performances in the OKG group (P< 0.05). The results suggest that improvement in nutritional parameters observed during the treatment of burn-injured patients with ornithine a-ketoglutarate allows better clinical recovery.
Donati
L
L
Instituto di Chirurgica Plastica, Universita di Milano, Milano, Italy.
Ziegler
F
F
Pongelli
G
G
Signorini
M S
MS
D000328:Adult; D001835:Body Weight; D002056:Burns / Q000188:drug therapy*; D004311:Double-Blind Method; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism; D009752:Nutritional Status; D009952:Ornithine / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D011228:Prealbumin / Q000378:metabolism; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D014945:Wound Healing / Q000187:drug effects
D011228:Prealbumin; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins; C002118:ornithine alpha-ketoglutarate; D009952:Ornithine; D009584:Nitrogen