Effects of glutamine-enriched total parenteral nutrition on acute pancreatitis.

AIM: This study was performed to determine the effects of glutamine enriched total parenteral nutrition (TPN) on the patients with acute pancreatitis (AP). METHOD: Forty patients with AP, who had Ranson's score between 2 and 4 received either standard TPN (control group) or TPN with glutamine (treatment group). The patients in the treatment group received TPN containing 0.3 g/kg/days glutamine. At the end of the study, patients were evaluated for nutritional and inflammatory parameters, length of TPN and length of hospital stay. RESULTS: The length of TPN applications were 10.5+/-3.6 days and 11.6+/-2.5 days, and the length of hospital stays were 14.2+/-4.4 and 16.4+/-3.9 days for the treatment and control groups (NS), and the complication rates in the treatment and control groups were 10 and 40%, respectively (P<0.05). The transferrin level increased by 11.7% in the group that received glutamine-enriched TPN (P<0.05), whereas the transferrin level decreased by 12.1% in the control group (NS). At the end of the study, slight but not significant changes were determined in both groups in fasting blood sugar, albumin, blood urea nitrogen (BUN), creatinine, total cholesterol concentrations, aspartate aminotransferase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT) and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities, leukocytes, CD(4), CD(8), serum Zn, Ca and P levels compare to the baseline levels (NS). Significant decreases were determined in serum lipase, amylase activities and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels in both groups (P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study have shown that glutamine supplementation to TPN have beneficial effects on the prevention of complications in patients with AP.

Effects of hazelnut-enriched diet on plasma cholesterol and lipoprotein profiles in hypercholesterolemic adult men.

OBJECTIVE: Frequent consumption of nuts is associated with favorable plasma lipid profiles and reduced risk of coronary heart disease (CHD). This study was conducted to investigate the effects of hazelnut-enriched diet on plasma cholesterol and lipoprotein profiles in hypercholesterolemic adult men compared with baseline and control diet, and also to measure the anthropometric parameters, habitual physical activities, nutrient intake and endothelial function. SUBJECTS AND DESIGN: Fifteen hypercholesterolemic men aged 48+/-8 years were recruited voluntarily. A well-controlled, 2-period (P1 and P2) study design with a total of 8-week was implemented. In the P1, subjects consumed a control diet (low-fat, low-cholesterol and high-carbohydrate). During the P2, the control diet was supplemented with MUFA-rich hazelnut (40 g/day), which provided 11.6% of total energy content. Anthropometric parameters and habitual physical activities were recorded. Plasma total and HDL cholesterol, TAG, ApoA-1, Apo B, total homocysteine and glucose concentrations were measured. All parameters and measurements were obtained at baseline and end of each 4-week diet period. RESULTS: Body weights of subjects remained stable throughout the study. Compared with baseline, the hazelnut-enriched diet decreased (P<0.05) the concentrations of VLDL cholesterol, triacylglycerol, apolipoprotein B by 29.5, 31.8, and 9.2%, respectively, while increasing HDL cholesterol concentrations by 12.6%. Total/HDL cholesterol and LDL/HDL cholesterol ratios favorably decreased (P<0.05). Although insignificant there was a decreasing trend for the rest of parameters, particularly in total (5.2%) and LDL cholesterol (3.3%) in subjects consuming a hazelnut-enriched diet compared to that of the baseline. No changes were found in fasting levels of glucose, Apo A-1 and homocysteine between the control and hazelnut-enriched diets. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated that a high-fat and high-MUFA-rich hazelnut diet was superior to a low-fat control diet because of favorable changes in plasma lipid profiles of hypercholesterolemic adult men and, thereby positively affecting the CHD risk profile. SPONSORSHIP: Funding provided by a grant from the Hazelnut Promotion Group, Giresun, Turkey.