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Immunomodulatory Effects of Ornithine -Ketoglutarate in Rats With Burn Injuries

Monique Roch-Arveiller, PhD; Michèle Tissot, PhD; Colette Coudray-Lucas, PhD; Jeanine Fontagné, PhD; Jacques Le Boucher; Jean-Paul Giroud, PhD; Luc Cynober, PhD

Arch Surg. 1996;131(7):718-723.

Abstract
Objective
To investigate the influence of enterally administered ornithine -ketoglutarate (OKG) on muscular amino acid content, eicosanoid release, and polymorphonuclear leukocyte responsiveness after induction of burn injury in rats.

Design
Experimental trial.

Materials and Methods
Four groups of rats were considered: (1) healthy rats that received a standard diet supplemented with 5 g/kg per day of OKG; (2) rats with burn injuries that received the same nutrition as group 1; (3) healthy rats that received a standard diet supplemented with glycine in an isonitrogenous amount relative to OKG; and (4) rats with burn injuries that received the same nutrition as group 3. The thymus and I skeletal muscle were weighed. The oxidative metabolism of pleural polymorphonuclear leukocytes was measured by means of superoxide generation (O₂–) and the chemiluminescent response to opsonized zymosan. Prostaglandin E₂ and 6-keto-prostaglandin F₁ were measured in the supernatants of pleural and peritoneal cells.

Results
The weights of the thymus and the muscle from healthy rats were similar. Those of rats from group 4 were significantly lower (P<.05), whereas those of rats from group 2 were not. Metabolism of OKG led to enhanced amounts of arginine and glutamine in skeletal muscle. The metabolic bursts of polymorphonuclear leukocytes from healthy rats were similar. Those of glycine-treated rats with bum injuries were significantly depressed (P<.05), whereas those of the OKG-treated group were not. Pleural and peritoneal cells from the rats with burn injuries that received OKG generated significantly more prostaglandins (P<.01) than did cells from the other groups of rats.

Conclusion
Ornithine -ketoglutarate administered to rats with burn injuries displays immunomodulatory properties that can enhance host-defense mechanisms in animals that are affected by a severe injury.

Arch Surg. 1996;131:718-723

Author Affiliations
From the Département de Pharmacologie, Unité 1534 du Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (Drs Roch-Arveiller, Tissot, Fontagné, and Giroud), and Unité 402 de l'Institut National de la Santé et de la Recherche Médicale et Groupe de Recherche eu Nutrition et Métabolisme Hépatique (Drs Coudray-Lucas and Cynober and Mr Le Boucher), Paris, France.

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