Glutamine for induction of remission in Crohn's disease.

Study answer

What this study found

Glutamine did not show clear efficacy for inducing remission in active Crohn's disease, and the overall evidence base was too small to establish safety or benefit. In the pediatric trial, remission at 4 weeks was 4/9 with glutamine diet versus 5/9 with standard diet (RR 0.80, 95% CI 0.31 to 2.04), and the between-group difference in intestinal permeability change was not significant (P = 0.239). In the adult trial, the change in lactulose/xylose ratio after 1 week was also not significantly different (MD -0.01, 95% CI -0.04 to 0.02). Safety conclusions were uncertain; no serious adverse…

Study & population

Systematic review of 2 small randomized controlled trials in active Crohn's disease and acute exacerbations of inflammatory bowel disease.

Intervention

Glutamine was tested in two active-regimen forms: a glutamine-enriched polymeric diet given orally or by fine-bore nasogastric tube for 4 weeks in children, and alanyl-glutamine added to total parenteral nutrition at 0.3 g/kg/day for at least 1 week in adults.

Key limitation

The evidence comes from only 2 small single-center trials with different populations, formulations, and routes of administration, limiting comparability and precision.

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Original abstract