The Roles of Glutamine in the Intestine and Its Implication in Intestinal Diseases
1
Food Science and Human Nutrition Department, Center for Nutritional Sciences, College of Agricultural and Life Sciences, University of Florida, Gainesville, FL 32611, USA
2
Department of Food and Nutrition, Brain Korea 21 PLUS Project, College of Human Ecology, Yonsei University, Seoul 03722, Korea
*
Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Academic Editor: Marica Bakovic
Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18(5), 1051; https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms18051051
Received: 25 March 2017 / Revised: 9 May 2017 / Accepted: 10 May 2017 / Published: 12 May 2017
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Nutrigenomics of Risk Factors for Disease)
Glutamine, the most abundant free amino acid in the human body, is a major substrate utilized by intestinal cells. The roles of glutamine in intestinal physiology and management of multiple intestinal diseases have been reported. In gut physiology, glutamine promotes enterocyte proliferation, regulates tight junction proteins, suppresses pro-inflammatory signaling pathways, and protects cells against apoptosis and cellular stresses during normal and pathologic conditions. As glutamine stores are depleted during severe metabolic stress including trauma, sepsis, and inflammatory bowel diseases, glutamine supplementation has been examined in patients to improve their clinical outcomes. In this review, we discuss the physiological roles of glutamine for intestinal health and its underlying mechanisms. In addition, we discuss the current evidence for the efficacy of glutamine supplementation in intestinal diseases.
View Full-Text
Keywords:
glutamine; intestinal function; inflammatory bowel disease; short bowel syndrome; nutritional therapy
▼
Show Figures
Graphical abstract
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited
MDPI and ACS Style
Kim, M.-H.; Kim, H. The Roles of Glutamine in the Intestine and Its Implication in Intestinal Diseases. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2017, 18, 1051.
Show more citation formats
Note that from the first issue of 2016, MDPI journals use article numbers instead of page numbers. See further details here.
Search more from Scilit
