Glutamine - Supplement To Treat Stomach Ulcers

By Margarita Nahapetyan

Amino acid glutamine that is present in many foods and dietary supplements turns out to be beneficial in the treatment of stomach ulcers, claim medical experts from the United States.

It has been known for twenty years already that Helicobacter pylori bacteria are causing gastric damage and are also responsible for stomach ulcers. Treatment with antibiotic drugs since that time has been the primary therapy for these conditions. However, the experts say that the Helicobacter pylori infection, which affects approximately 6 per cent of the individuals worldwide, gradually becomes more and more resistant to antibiotic drugs.

In the new study that was carried out by the scientists at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the investigators found out that the amino acid glutamine might prove very effective in offsetting gastric damage caused by Helicobacter pylori bacteria, and therefore possibly becoming a new alternative option to antibiotic drugs for the treatment of stomach ulcers.

According to Dr. Susan Hagen, an associate research director in medical center's surgery department and associate surgery professor at Harvard Medical School, who also was the main author of the research, the new findings indicate that extra amount of glutamine supplements in the diet could protect individuals against gastric damage caused by H. pylori infection. The scientist also added that "gastric damage develops when the bacteria weakens the stomach's protective mucous coating, damages cells and elicits a robust immune response that is ineffective at ridding the infection." Eventually, she further noted, years of infection can lead to developing of a combination of a number of conditions, such as persistent gastritis, cell damage, as well as an environment conducive to cancer development.

Glutamine is a non- essential amino acid that can naturally be found in many foods, such as beef, chicken, fish, eggs, dairy products, and is also present in some fruits and vegetables. L-glutamine, which is a biologically active isomer of glutamine, is widely used by many athletes and body builders as a dietary supplement, in order to build up extra muscle mass.

Professor Hagen and her fellow colleagues have found in their previous investigations that glutamine can be protective against cell death caused by Helicobacter pylori-produced ammonia. They wrote that their research allowed to see that the damaging effects of ammonia on gastric cells could be effectively treated by the usage of L-glutamine. "The amino acid stimulated ammonia detoxification in the stomach, as it does in the liver, so that the effective concentration of ammonia was reduced, thereby blocking cell damage," Prof. Hagen explained.

The findings are reported in the May issue of the Journal of Nutrition.