Alanyl-glutamine is a

chemical compound A chemical compound is a chemical substance composed of many identical molecules (or molecular entities) containing atoms from more than one chemical element held together by chemical bonds. A molecule consisting of atoms of only one element ...

which in the form L-alanyl-L-glutamine is used in

dietary supplement A dietary supplement is a manufactured product intended to supplement a person's diet by taking a pill (pharmacy), pill, capsule (pharmacy), capsule, tablet (pharmacy), tablet, powder, or liquid. A supplement can provide nutrients eithe ...

ation, in

parenteral nutrition Parenteral nutrition (PN), or intravenous feeding, is the feeding of nutritional products to a person intravenously, bypassing the usual process of eating and digestion. The products are made by pharmaceutical compounding entities or standard ph ...

, and in

cell culture Cell culture or tissue culture is the process by which cell (biology), cells are grown under controlled conditions, generally outside of their natural environment. After cells of interest have been Cell isolation, isolated from living tissue, ...

. It is a

dipeptide A dipeptide is an organic compound derived from two amino acids. The constituent amino acids can be the same or different. When different, two isomers of the dipeptide are possible, depending on the sequence. Several dipeptides are physiological ...

consisting of

alanine Alanine (symbol Ala or A), or α-alanine, is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. It contains an amine group and a carboxylic acid group, both attached to the central carbon atom which also carries a methyl group sid ...

and

glutamine Glutamine (symbol Gln or Q) is an α-amino acid that is used in the biosynthesis of proteins. Its side chain is similar to that of glutamic acid, except the carboxylic acid group is replaced by an amide. It is classified as a charge-neutral ...

Dietary supplement

As a dietary supplement, alanyl-glutamine protects the

gastrointestinal tract The gastrointestinal tract (GI tract, digestive tract, alimentary canal) is the tract or passageway of the Digestion, digestive system that leads from the mouth to the anus. The tract is the largest of the body's systems, after the cardiovascula ...

. The protective effect reduces

bacterial translocation Intestinal permeability is a term describing the control of material passing from inside the gastrointestinal tract through the cells lining the gut wall, into the rest of the body. The intestine normally exhibits some permeability, which allows nu ...

, thus reducing the risk of infections and infection-related problems such as

diarrhea Diarrhea (American English), also spelled diarrhoea or diarrhœa (British English), is the condition of having at least three loose, liquid, or watery bowel movements in a day. It often lasts for a few days and can result in dehydration d ...

dehydration In physiology, dehydration is a lack of total body water that disrupts metabolic processes. It occurs when free water loss exceeds intake, often resulting from excessive sweating, health conditions, or inadequate consumption of water. Mild deh ...

malabsorption Malabsorption is a state arising from abnormality in absorption of food nutrients across the gastrointestinal (GI) tract. Impairment can be of single or multiple nutrients depending on the abnormality. This may lead to malnutrition and a varie ...

, and

electrolyte imbalance Electrolyte imbalance, or water-electrolyte imbalance, is an abnormality in the concentration of electrolytes in the body. Electrolytes play a vital role in maintaining homeostasis in the body. They help to regulate heart and neurological function ...

Parenteral nutrition

At room temperature with 1 atmosphere of pressure, L-alanyl-L-glutamine has a

solubility In chemistry, solubility is the ability of a chemical substance, substance, the solute, to form a solution (chemistry), solution with another substance, the solvent. Insolubility is the opposite property, the inability of the solute to form su ...

of about 586 g/L, which is more than 10 times glutamine's solubility (35 g/L). Also, glutamine does not withstand sterilization procedures, whereas alanyl-glutamine does. Alanyl-glutamine's high solubility makes it valuable in parenteral nutrition.

Cell culture

In cell culture, L-alanyl-L-glutamine is sometimes used as a replacement for L-glutamine because this dipeptide is stable in aqueous solution unlike L-glutamine which spontaneously degrades to form

ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic chemical compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the chemical formula, formula . A Binary compounds of hydrogen, stable binary hydride and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinctive pu ...

and pyrrolidine carboxylic acid. During cell culture, L-alanyl-L-glutamine is broken down into L-glutamine which is an essential nutrient for the cells. Because the chemical compound L-alanyl-L-glutamine is broken down a little at a time, the cells have time to use the L-glutamine that is formed before it is broken down into ammonia and pyrrolidine carboxylic acid. Ammonia tends to damage the cells, which means that when growing with a medium that uses L-glutamine instead of L-alanyl-L-glutamine, it is necessary to change the cells' growth medium more often. L-Alanyl-L-glutamine is sold under the name GlutaMAX by

Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is an American life science and clinical research company. It is a global supplier of analytical instruments, clinical development solutions, specialty diagnostics, laboratory, pharmaceutical and biotechnology s ...

and under the name AminoStable by

Ajinomoto is a Japanese multinational food and biotechnology corporation which produces seasonings, cooking oils, frozen food Freezing food Food preservation, preserves it from the time it is prepared to the time it is eaten. Since early times, farm ...

References

{{cite web, title=NCI Thesaurus, url=https://ncit.nci.nih.gov/ncitbrowser/ConceptReport.jsp?dictionary=NCI_Thesaurus&ns=NCI_Thesaurus&code=C127908, work=ncit.nci.nih.gov Dipeptides Dietary supplements