Under general anesthesia and arterial pressure control, twelve horses were submitted simultaneously to intraluminal distension and venous ischemia of jejune for 2 hours, followed by 12 hours of reperfusion. Six horses were treated with intravenous 2% glutamine (50mg/kg), and six others were treated with the same volume of saline solution 1h after the beginning of ischemia and 6 hours after reperfusion. Intestinal samples were collected before and after 2 hours of ischemia and after 2 and 12 hours of reperfusion, and were submitted to hystopatological analyses, ultrastructural examination, measurement of area and number of villi per mm², and to myeloperoxidases activity. No statistical differences between the groups were found. It was concluded that glutamine did not attenuate the ischemia and reperfusion lesions under the methodology used in this study.
Intestine; ischemia and reperfusion; colic; glutamine; equine
