title: Plasma glutamine decreases immediately after surgery and is related to incisiveness.
abstract: Glutamine (gln) is the most abundant free amino acid in the blood. It is involved in important metabolic and biochemical processes, like cell proliferation and oxidative stress. Previous studies have demonstrated that gln concentration in human plasma decreases in several conditions such as sepsis, ischemia-reperfusion, trauma, major surgery and burn. The aim of the present work was to compare the acute effects of different types of surgical interventions and of anesthetization on blood gln concentration. Plasma samples from 88 subjects (30 males and 58 females) were collected before and after major or minor surgery and the gln concentration was analyzed with high-performance liquid chromatography. The results showed that plasma gln concentration after surgery was lower than pre-surgery values and that in major surgery the decrease of gln was higher than in minor surgery. No significant effect was shown for sex or type of anesthesia. These results demonstrate the importance of a gln supplementation before a surgical intervention and show that the amount of gln supplementation should also be adjusted based on the type of surgery.
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Human Physiology, Second University of Naples, Naples, Italy.
authors.forename: Emanuela
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Viggiano
authors.forename: Maria Beatrice
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Passavanti
authors.forename: Maria Caterina
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Pace
authors.forename: Pasquale
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Sansone
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Spaziano
authors.forename: Alessandro
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viggiano
authors.forename: Caterina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Aurilio
authors.forename: Marcellino
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Monda
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viggiano
authors.forename: Vincenzo
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Pota
authors.forename: Bruno
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: De Luca
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: De Luca
mesh_terms: D000758:Anesthesia; D002851:Chromatography, High Pressure Liquid; D019587:Dietary Supplements; D005260:Female; D013502:General Surgery; D005973:Glutamine / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male
chemical_list: D005973:Glutamine