Glutamine-Induced Protection Against Secondary White-Matter Injury Following Experimental Spinal Cord Injury

The authors of this article [Golding et al., 2006: (http://jap.physiology.org/cgi/reprint/101/4/1045)(http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/16778003?dopt=Abstract)] found that exogenous glutamine reduced some of the abnormalities in the skeletal muscles that had begun to occur in response to spinal cord injury in rats. The authors also referred to their past research showing that glutamine had reduced the secondary damage to the white matter (myelin) that had occurred in response to spinal cord injuries in an animal model. Golding et al. (2006) suggested that the effects of glutamine on the muscles, following the spinal cord injuries, may have partially been the result of effects, such as the restoration of glutathione levels or the ATP that is required for glutathione biosynthesis, on the nerve fibers (i.e. motor neurons) innervating the muscles. In previous research, this group of researchers found that the restoration of glutathione levels by glutamine had occurred in association with improvements in the outcomes of spinal cord injuries in animal models.