Oral Glutamine to reduce stomatitis

Abstract

Glutamine is administered orally at a rate of about 4.5 g / m2 per day to treat oropharyngeal mucositis. This is administered to patients that experience or may develop oropharyngeal mucositis, especially those caused by chemotherapy or radiotherapy.

Description

[0001]This application is a division of Ser. No. 08 / 039,905 filed Mar. 3, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,438,075 issued Aug. 1, 1995.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION[0002]1. Field of the Invention[0003]This invention relates to methods of treating oropharyngeal mucositis and other oral and nasal mucositis by oral or nasal administration of glutamine.[0004]2. Description of the Related Art[0005]Mucositis is a common limiting toxicity of cancer chemotherapy. While the term mucositis refers to inflammation of a mucous membrane, this term is often used synonymously with stomatitis to refer to inflammation of the oral mucosa. The strict definitions of stomatitis (inflammation of the oral mucosa), enteritis (inflammation of the intestines), and mucositis (inflammation of mucous membranes including any region of the alimentary canal) will be used to avoid confusion.[0006]Although often a result of the bolus administration of anti-neoplastic agents, gut toxicity may be even more common when some agen...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017]The invention provides oral and nasal administration of glutamine to patients exhibiting stomatitis or at risk of developing same. It has been found that the mucous membranes of the pharynx and mouth are protected from mucositis by oral administration of glutamine at very low dosages. Topical administration of glutamine to the mouth and nasal passages should protect against mucositis in those areas.

[0018]It has been found that the damage to the oropharyngeal mucosa due to chemotherapy may be greatly decreased by taking glutamine daily at a very low dosage of between about 0.8 to 8 grams per 70 kg patient. Such does should also work well to minimize damage due to radiotherapy. Administration of glutamine to the nasal mucosa may be accomplished by a topical spray solution, while administration to the mouth may be made via a paste, ointment, gel or gummy chew tablet or lozenge that will keep the glutamine where it is needed.

[0020]Since these patients are in such pain, swallowing large quantities of anything is out of the question. Enteral feeding is possible for nutrients through tubes, but causes pain and discomfort. Furthermore, tube feeding does not supply glutamine to the stomatitis-afflicted mucosa and in patients with thrombocytopenia increases the risk of nasopharyngeal, esophageal and gastric mucosal bleeding.

Problems solved by technology

When such patients develop stomatitis, it is often so painful that swallowing is nearly impossible.

The areas to be treated by the invention may exhibit extremely painful stomatitis, which limits the ability to swallow.

Since these patients are in such pain, swallowing large quantities of anything is out of the question.

Enteral feeding is possible for nutrients through tubes, but causes pain and discomfort.

Furthermore, tube feeding does not supply glutamine to the stomatitis-afflicted mucosa and in patients with thrombocytopenia increases the risk of nasopharyngeal, esophageal and gastric mucosal bleeding.

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