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WithdrawnNCT00217035Updated Jan 13, 2017

Glutamine Enriched Total Parenteral Feeding and Proline Metabolism in Severely Burned Patients

An observational study in Burns, sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital. Withdrawn at 1 site in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2017-01-13.

Sponsored by Massachusetts General Hospital · Observational

Why this study was withdrawn
State of Mass. tightened regulations for making intravenous solutions for research subjects. Study was withdrawn and no participants were enrolled.
Study type
Observational
Enrollment
0
Ages
18 Years and older
Sex
All
01

Study summary

Proline is a non-essential amino acid that helps with collagen formation. Collagen is one of the main ingredients of skin, bone, tendons, and connective tissue. It is thought that proline becomes depleted in burn patients because it is being used in greater than normal quantities to help the injured skin and connective tissue heal. If this is true, then the body must look for alternate energy sources as proline becomes depleted.

This study aims to evaluate 1)the metabolic kinetics of the amino acids proline, glutamate, and ornithine and 2) the effects of glutamine supplemented total parenteral nutrition (TPN) on the metabolism of these amino acids.

Read the detailed description

Proline is a nutritionally dispensable (non-essential) amino acid. Its synthesis and catabolism is via the pathway of ornithine and glutamate. The latter two amino acids serve as immediate precursors for proline, as well as metabolites. Ornithine is one of the intermediates for urea cycle. Glutamate is metabolically connected to tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, the major cycle for energy production.

It is hypothesized that the significantly increased rates of net nitrogen loss and energy "production", as the consequence of the accelerated activities of both the urea and TCA cycles in burn injury "drain" both ornithine and glutamate, thus depleting tissues of the availability of proline. Hence, the de novo synthesis of proline is likely to be affected by the reduced availability of its major precursors: glutamate and ornithine. We further propose that increased supply of glutamine would increase the de novo synthesis of proline and / or spare the loss of proline via its metabolite glutamate. Hence, glutamine will be beneficial to the overall nutritional status of the burn patients.

02

Conditions studied

  • Burns

Keywords

  • parenteral nutrition
  • burn injury
  • stable isotopes
  • Proline Metabolic Kinetics
  • Ornithine Metabolic Kinetics
  • Glutamate Metabolic Kinetics
  • Glutamine Metabolic Kinetics
03

In context

Lead sponsor

Massachusetts General Hospital is the lead sponsor of 2,536 studies on the registry; 446 are open to participants now.

Of its 214 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 161 (75%) have results posted.

Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.

04

Who can participate

Ages eligible
18 Years and older
Sexes eligible
All
Accepts healthy volunteers
No

Inclusion criteria

Burn patients being treated at MGH Burn Unit with one or more of the following criteria: 1) >=5% TBSA; 2) inhalation injury; or 3) resting energy expenditure (REE) of >15% of the predicted Basal Metabolic Rate using the Harris-Benedict equation.

Must be receiving total parenteral nutrition in the course of their treatment.

Exclusion criteria

Exclusion Criteria:

Patients with thyroid disease. Patients who are not hemodynamically stable or show unstable vital signs Patients at the stage of major organ failure, e.g. renal and/or liver failure.

05

Study design

Enrollment
0 participants (actual)
Patient registry
No

Interventions

  • Dietary supplementTPN or TPN enriched with glutamine

    Each patient undergoes two nutritional support periods either with or without Glutamine supplementation.

    Also known as: Nutritional Support, Amino Acid Composition

06

What researchers measure

Primary outcomes

  1. This is a study for measuring the protein kinetics for metabolism of the amino acids proline, glutamate, and ornithine. Kinetics will be derived from measurements on blood and air samples taken as part of the study.

    Time frame: 12 hours

07

Study locations

1 site
  • Massachusetts General Hospital Burn Unit
    Boston, Massachusetts 02114, United States
08

References and documents

Publications

  • Tharakan JF, Yu YM, Zurakowski D, Roth RM, Young VR, Castillo L. Adaptation to a long term (4 weeks) arginine- and precursor (glutamate, proline and aspartate)-free diet. Clin Nutr. 2008 Aug;27(4):513-22. doi: 10.1016/j.clnu.2008.04.014. Epub 2008 Jun 30. PubMed 18590940 ↗
  • Yu YM, Ryan CM, Castillo L, Lu XM, Beaumier L, Tompkins RG, Young VR. Arginine and ornithine kinetics in severely burned patients: increased rate of arginine disposal. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2001 Mar;280(3):E509-17. doi: 10.1152/ajpendo.2001.280.3.E509. PubMed 11171607 ↗
  • Castillo L, Ajami A, Branch S, Chapman TE, Yu YM, Burke JF, Young VR. Plasma arginine kinetics in adult man: response to an arginine-free diet. Metabolism. 1994 Jan;43(1):114-22. doi: 10.1016/0026-0495(94)90166-x. PubMed 8289668 ↗
  • Jaksic T, Wagner DA, Burke JF, Young VR. Proline metabolism in adult male burned patients and healthy control subjects. Am J Clin Nutr. 1991 Aug;54(2):408-13. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/54.2.408. PubMed 1858705 ↗
  • Jaksic T, Wagner DA, Burke JF, Young VR. Plasma proline kinetics and the regulation of proline synthesis in man. Metabolism. 1987 Nov;36(11):1040-6. doi: 10.1016/0026-0495(87)90023-0. PubMed 3670073 ↗
09

Updates

Tracking since Sep 25, 2026
No changes since tracking began. The registry record was last updated on Jan 13, 2017, before this site started recording changes on Sep 25, 2026. Its history is on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗
10

Registry details

Key details

Study ID
NCT00217035
Lead sponsor
Massachusetts General Hospital
Collaborators
National Institutes of Health (NIH)
First posted
Sep 22, 2005
Start date
Aug 1997
Primary completion
Jan 2010 (estimated)
Completion
Jan 2010 (estimated)
Last update
Jan 13, 2017

Study contacts

Ronald G Tompkins, MD, ScD
principal investigator · MGH, Shriners Burn Hospital - Boston

Oversight

Data monitoring committee
Yes
View the source record on ClinicalTrials.gov ↗

Not currently enrolling

This study is withdrawn, as verified in Jan 2017. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.

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