Abstract:

Objective     To explore the efficacy of glutamine granules in the treatment of oral mucositis (OM) caused by chemotherapy. Methods   Ninety-one patients were divided into two groups randomly, in which 46 patients received glutamine granues (a gargle of 5g/10mL, 3 times/day) while the orther 45 received placebo (a gargle of 10mL, 3 times/day). All the cases must start with glutamine granules or placebo on the same day when chemotherapy began.  OM grade was evaluated  according to the gradings issued by WHO. Meanwhile, the score of quality of life was also recorded. Results    Compared with placebo, glutamine group significantly reduced the incidences of grade 3 and 4 OM （P<0.05 ). Glutamine also significantly enhanced the score of quality of life on the 7th, 14th and 21st day (P<0.05). Meanwhile, patients received glutamine used less painkiller (P<0.05) and showed low incidence of  bleeding (P<0.05). The necessity of total parenteral nutrition due to OM was also reduced considerably than that of placebo group(P<0.05). Conclusion     Glutamine granules is effective to treat OM in the patients receiving cytotoxic  chemotherapy.

Key words: Glutamine; Oral mucositis; Malignant tumor; Chemotherapy; Adverse reaction