Glutamine

Suggested

2 studies · 1 recommendation

Last updated: February 25, 2026

Glutamine – Oral Mucositis
Suggested2 studies

Glutamine supplementation may reduce oral mucositis severity during cancer treatment

Two systematic reviews support glutamine as a cytoprotective agent against oral mucositis in cancer patients. A Cochrane review of multiple randomized controlled trials identified intravenous glutamine among seven interventions with evidence of benefit for preventing oral mucositis, particularly in bone marrow transplant settings, though the evidence was less robust than for cryotherapy or keratinocyte growth factor. A second systematic review screening 268 articles (96 meeting inclusion criteria) across PubMed-Medline, Cochrane Library, and Scopus found oral glutamine consistently decreased the appearance and severity of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis across multiple studies. While glutamine did not reach top-tier efficacy alongside palifermin, cryotherapy, and low-power laser therapy, both reviews documented measurable reductions in mucositis incidence and severity, supporting its role as an adjunctive preventive strategy warranting further confirmatory trials.

Evidence

Authors: Bagán Sebastián, José Vicente, Chaveli López, Begonya

Published: January 1, 2016

In a systematic review of 268 identified articles (96 meeting inclusion criteria) from PubMed-Medline, Cochrane Library, and Scopus databases, oral glutamine was categorized among cytoprotective agents—alongside sucralfate and hyaluronic acid—that demonstrated a decrease in the appearance and severity of chemotherapy-induced oral mucositis. While glutamine did not reach the top tier of confirmed-efficacy interventions (palifermin, cryotherapy, low-power laser), the cytoprotector group showed consistent positive results across multiple reviewed studies. The authors recommended further investigation to confirm these benefits.

Authors: Abramoff, Adamietz, Adamietz, Adamietz, Ahmed, Ahn, Aisa, Altmann, Andersen, Anderson, Anderson, Andreassen, Antin, Antonadou, Antonadou, Apaydin, Aquino, Ardizzoni, Attal, Awada, Awada, Awidi, Awwad, Barasch, Barker, Baydar, Begg, Bellm, Bennett, Bensadoun, Bensadoun, Bensadoun, Bensadoun, Bensadoun, Bentzen, Biswal, Biswal, Bjarnason, Bleehen, Boer, Borowski, Bourhis, Bourhis, Bourhis, Braaksma, Brizel, Bubley, Buentzel, Buentzel, Buntzel, Buntzel, Buntzel, Calais, Calais, Calais, Cartee, Carter, Cascinu, Cassidy, Castagna, Castro, Cella, Cengiz, Cerchietti, Chang, Cheng, Cheng, Cheng, Cheng, Cheng, Cheng, Chi, Chi, Choi, Chor, Clarke, Clarkson, Clarkson, Clarkson, Clarkson, Clarkson, Coghlin Dickson, Colella, Collova, Colombat, Costa, Costa, Cowen, Cowen, Crawford, Crawford, Cunningham, Dai, Damon, Dazzi, Dazzi, Denham, Denning, Djuric, Dobrowsky, Dodd, Doroshow, Dose, Dose, Dozono, Dreicer, Dudjak, Duenas-Gonzalez, Duncan, Duncan, Edelman, Egger, Eilers, Eisen, El-Sayed, El-Sayed, El-Sayed, Elad, Elbourne, Epstein, Epstein, Epstein, Epstein, Epstein, Erkisi, Erlichman, Erlichman, Ertekin, Etiz, Etiz, Evensen, Ezzat, Fahlke, Falcone, Fay, Feber, Feber, Ferreira, Ferreira, Ferretti, Ferretti, Ferretti, Ferretti, Fidler, Fidler, Foncuberta, Foote, Franzen, Freytes, Gabison, Gandara, Gibson, Giles, Giles, Giles, Glenny, Glenny, Goldberg, Gordon, Grotz, Grotz, Grzegorczyk-Jazwinska, Gujral, Gujral, Gutierrez, Haddad, Hanson, Hanson, Harris, Hartmann, Hartmann, He, Henke, Hickey, Howell, Hu, Huang, Huang, Hwang, Ifrah, Ito, Jebb, Jebb, Jellema, Jham, Jham, Johnson, Ju, Kante, Karacetin, Karthaus, Kassab, Katano, Kaul, Kaul, Keefe, Kenny, Khouri, Klocke, Koning, Koukourakis, Labar, Labar, Labbate, Lanzos, Lavendag, Le, Leborgne, Lee, Lee, Lelie, Leong, Levi, Lievens, Lilleby, Lin, Lin, Lockhart, Loo, Lopez, Loprinzi, Lortholary, Lorusso, Lozada-Nur, Lugliè, Madero, Mahmoud HK, Mahood, Makkonen, Makkonen, Malaker, Mantovani, Marcial, Masucci, Matejka, McAleese, McGaw, McIlroy, Meropol, Merte, Mills, Mills, Minn, Moher, Nemunaitis, Nicolatou-Galitis, Niibe, Niibe, Nottage, Oberbaum, Oberbaum, Okuno, Okuno, Okuno, Okutomi, Panahi, Papadeas, Papas, Papas, Pauw, Penpattanagul, Peters, Peterson, Peterson, Peterson, Petit, Pfeiffer, Pfeiffer, Phillips, Piccirillo, Pillsbury, Pitten, Pouli, Prada, Prada, Puataweepong, Putwatana, Pyrhonen, Pytlik, Qin, Rabinovitch, Rades, Radmard, Raether, Rahn, Rahn, Robustelli della Cuna, Rocci, Rocke, Rojas de Morales, Rothwell, Rubestein, Rutkauskas, Saarilahti, Samaranayake, Sato, Savarese, Scarantino, Scarantino, Scarantino, Scherlacher, Schneider, Schuster, Schwerkoske, Shabanloei, Sharma, Shea, Shea, Shenep, Shidfar, Shieh, Simoes, Sonis, Sorensen, Spadaro, Spencer, Spielberger, Spielberger, Spijkervet, Stevens, Stokman, Stokman, Stokman, Su, Su, Su, Suc, Sutherland, Svanberg, Symonds, Symonds, Symonds, Tavender, Teshima, Thieblemont, Throuvalas, Toubai, Trotti, Trotti, Tu, Uchiyama, Vacha, Vacha, Vadhan-Raj, Valcarcel, Valcarcel, Valcárcel, Verdi, Verdi, Vesole, Villar, Vitello, Vokurka, Wagner, Wahlin, Wang, Wang, Ward, Warde, Watanabe, Weisdorf, Weiss, Whelan, White, Wijers, Wollina, Worthington, Worthington, Worthington, Worthington, Wright, Wu, Wu, Wu, Wymenga, Wymenga, Yokomizo, Yuen, Zaanen, Zanin

Published: January 1, 2010

The Cochrane systematic review found that intravenous glutamine was among seven interventions showing weaker evidence of benefit for preventing oral mucositis in cancer patients receiving treatment including bone marrow transplant. The review assessed multiple randomized controlled trials evaluating different preventive strategies. While glutamine showed positive results, the evidence was not as robust as for cryotherapy or keratinocyte growth factor, and benefits may be limited to specific disease and treatment contexts evaluated in the included studies.