Alanylglutamine

This clinical study combined alanyl-glutamine and omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (ω-3 PUFAs) to investigate the effects of parenteral nutrition on postoperative inflammation and nutritional status in patients with gastroduodenal perforation to provide a basis and support for the use of clinical immunonutrients. Patients with gastroduodenal perforations who underwent surgery between January 2018 and December 2023 were included. From the first to the seventh postoperative day, Group A (GA) received conventional postoperative nutrition with fat emulsion (20%), amino acids (17), and glucose (11%) injection; Group B (GB), building on GA’s regimen, was additionally treated with 10 g/day of ω-3 PUFAs; and Group C (GC), expanding on GB’s regimen, was additionally treated with 10 g/day of alanyl-glutamine. A total of 168 patients were included in the study, with 71 in GA, 30 in GB, and 67 in GC. Total protein and albumin (Alb) levels increased in all 3 groups, with GC showing a more significant increase compared to GB and GA (TP: 7.73 ± 5.00 vs 4.35 ± 5.85 vs 3.92 ± 5.07, P < .05; Alb: 4.07 ± 4.52 vs 1.79 ± 4.00 vs 2.11 ± 4.10, P < .05); C-reactive protein levels decreased in all 3 groups, with the most pronounced decrease in GC (93.71 ± 80.97 vs 72.04 ± 80.48 vs 55.79 ± 83.68, P < .05); the length of hospitalization and among the 3 groups was statistically significant (10.7 ± 2.27 vs 13.39 ± 4.66 vs 12.52 ± 3.46, P < .05), and GB was shorter than GA; the incidence of postoperative complications was significantly lower in GC than in other groups (P < .05). Parenteral nutrition supplemented with alanyl-glutamine and ω-3 PUFAs can increase postoperative total protein and Alb levels, thereby improving patient nutritional status, reducing the production of the inflammatory marker C-reactive protein, mitigating the inflammatory response, and decreasing the incidence of postoperative complications, thus improving patient prognosis.

Untargeted metabolomics UHPLC-HRMS workflows typically employ narrowbore 2.1-mm inner diameter (i.d.) columns. However, the wide concentration range of the metabolome and the need to often analyze small sample amounts poses challenges to these approaches. Reducing the column diameter could be a potential solution. Herein, we evaluated the performance of a microbore 1.0-mm i.d. setup compared to the 2.1-mm i.d. benchmark for untargeted metabolomics. The 1.0-mm i.d. setup was implemented on a micro-UHPLC system, while the 2.1-mm i.d. on a standard UHPLC, both coupled to quadrupole-orbitrap HRMS. On polar standard metabolites, a sensitivity gain with an average 3.8-fold increase over the 2.1-mm i.d., along with lower LOD (LODavg 1.48 ng/mL vs. 6.18 ng/mL) and LOQ (LOQavg 4.94 ng/mL vs. 20.60 ng/mL), was observed. The microbore method detected and quantified all metabolites at LLOQ with respect to 2.1, also demonstrating good repeatability with lower CV% for retention times (0.29% vs. 0.63%) and peak areas (4.65% vs. 7.27%). The analysis of various samples, in both RP and HILIC modes, including different plasma volumes, dried blood spots (DBS), and colorectal cancer (CRC) patient-derived organoids (PDOs), in full scan-data dependent mode (FS-DDA) reported a significant increase in MS1 and MS2 features, as well as MS/MS spectral matches by 38.95%, 39.26%, and 18.23%, respectively. These findings demonstrate that 1.0-mm i.d. columns in UHPLC-HRMS could be a potential strategy to enhance coverage for low-amount samples while maintaining the same analytical throughput and robustness of 2.1-mm i.d. formats, with reduced solvent consumption.