• Pierre Déchelotte, Michel Hasselmann, Luc Cynober, Bernard Allaouchiche, Moïse Coëffier, Bernadette Hecketsweiler, Véronique Merle, Michel Mazerolles, Désiré Samba, Yves Marie Guillou, Jean Petit, Odile Mansoor, Gabriel Colas, Robert Cohendy, Didier Barnoud, Pierre Czernichow, and Gérard Bleichner.
• Nutrition Unit, Rouen University Hospital (PD), Rouen, France.
• Crit. Care Med. 2006 Mar 1;34(3):598-604.

ObjectiveGlutamine (Gln)-supplemented total parenteral nutrition (TPN) improves clinical outcome after planned surgery, but the benefits of Gln-TPN for critically ill (intensive care unit; ICU) patients are still debated.DesignProspective, double-blind, controlled, randomized trial.SettingICUs in 16 hospitals in France.PatientsOne-hundred fourteen ICU patients admitted for multiple trauma (38), complicated surgery (65), or pancreatitis (11).InterventionsPatients were randomized to receive isocaloric isonitrogenous TPN via a central venous catheter providing 37.5 kcal and 1.5 g amino acids.kg-1.day-1 supplemented with either L-alanyl-L-glutamine dipeptide (0.5 g.kg-1.day-1; Ala-Gln group, n=58) or L-alanine+L-proline (control group, n=56) over at least 5 days.Measurements And Main ResultsComplicated clinical outcome was defined a priori by the occurrence of infectious complications (according to the criteria of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), wound complication, or death. The two groups were compared by chi-square test on an intention-to-treat basis. The two groups did not differ at inclusion for type and severity of injury (mean simplified acute physiology score II, 30 vs. 30.5; mean injury severity score, 44.9 vs. 42.3). Similar volumes of TPN were administered in both groups. Ala-Gln-supplemented TPN was associated with a lower incidence of complicated outcome (41% vs. 61%; p<.05), which was mainly due to a reduced infection rate per patient (mean, 0.45 vs. 0.71; p<.05) and incidence of pneumonia (10 vs. 19; p<.05). Early death rate during treatment and 6-month survival were not different. Hyperglycemia was less frequent (20 vs. 30 patients; p<.05) and there were fewer insulin-requiring patients (14 vs. 22; p<.05) in the Ala-Gln group.ConclusionsTPN supplemented with Ala-Gln dipeptide in ICU patients is associated with a reduced rate of infectious complications and better metabolic tolerance.

26 keywords...

hide…