Mechanism of action of glutamine in portal hypertensive gastropathy in rats

Objective To investigate the role and mechanism of action of glutamine in portal hypertension gastropathy ( PHG) in rats.Methods A total of 60 Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into groups A ( sham-operation) , B ( sham-operation + glutamine) , C ( partial portal vein ligation) , and D ( partial portal vein ligation + glutamine) . A rat model of PHG was established by partial ligation of the main portal vein. Portal vein pressure ( PVP) , gastric injury index ( GI) , pathological integral ( PI) of the gastric mucosa, and liver morphological changes were measured after 2 weeks, and the plasma levels of alanine aminotransferase ( ALT) , aspartate aminotransferase ( AST) , albumin ( Alb) , nitric oxide ( NO) , tumor necrosis factor-α ( TNFα) , and superoxide dismutase ( SOD) were also measured. The t-test was used for comparison of continuous data between two groups, an analysis of variance was used for comparison between multiple groups, and the least significant difference t-test was used for further comparison between two groups. Results There was a significant difference in PVP between groups A, B, C, and D ( 1. 17 ± 0. 15 k Pa vs 1. 21 ± 0. 19 k Pa vs 2. 65 ± 0. 16 k Pa vs 2. 18 ± 0. 22 k Pa, F = 4. 60, P < 0. 05) , and there were also significant differences between groups C/D and groups A/B ( P < 0. 05) . There were significant differences between groups C and D in GI ( 15. 52 ± 2. 05 vs 8. 26 ± 1. 23, t = 5. 84, P < 0. 05) and PI ( 7. 56 ± 1. 53 vs 3. 15 ± 1. 42, t = 7. 45, P < 0. 05) . There were no significant differences in ALT, AST, and Alb between the four groups ( all P > 0. 05) . There were significant differences between the four groups in TNFα ( 0. 56 ± 0. 11 ng/ml vs 0. 41 ± 0. 21 ng/ml vs 1. 35 ± 0. 26 ng/ml vs 0. 68 ± 0. 21 ng/ml, F = 5. 24, P < 0. 05) , NO ( 1. 63 ± 0. 15 μmol/gpro vs 1. 41 ± 0. 12 μmol/gpro vs 5. 52 ± 1. 06 μmol/gpro vs 2. 26 ± 0. 83μmol/gpro, F = 8. 40, P < 0. 05) , and SOD ( 148. 21 ± 6. 21 U/mg vs 154. 21 ± 5. 31 U/mg vs 74. 56 ± 4. 21 U/mg vs 135. 25 ± 4. 82 U/mg, F = 14. 78, P < 0. 05) . There were significant differences in TNFα, NO, and SOD between group C and groups A/B ( all P <0. 05) , as well as between groups C and D ( all P < 0. 05) . Conclusion PHG has various pathogenic factors. Glutamine can alleviate gastric mucosal edema and hemorrhage in rats with PHG and reduce the content of NO, TNFα, and SOD. Glutamine has a good antioxidant effect and thus helps with the treatment of PHG.