ABSTRACT

Glutamine is a very important amino acid in supporting the immune response, and it is thought that one of the contributors to impaired immunity in catabolic stress states is a diminished supply of glutamine. This chapter reviews the metabolism of glutamine by cells of the immune system; the evidence from animal models and human clinical trials around glutamine, immunity, infection, and inflammation. It examines the mechanisms of action of glutamine within the immune system, with an emphasis on the role of heat shock proteins. The role of the immune system is to protect the host from infectious agents that exist in the environment, such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, and parasites, from other noxious environmental insults, and from tumor cells. The immune system has two broad functional divisions called the innate immune system and the acquired immune system. T lymphocytes proliferate poorly in culture medium that lacks glutamine and enzymatic destruction of glutamine in culture medium prevents T-lymphocyte proliferation.