5959-95-5

white crystalline powder

D-Glutamine is an unnatural isomer of L-Glutamine (G597000) that is present in human plasma an is a source of liberated ammonia. D-Glutamine can be synthesized by enzymatic means or can be found in cheeses, wine and vinegars as well. It is often used to determine the activity of Glutamine synthetase, an enzyme that is commonly found in the mammalian liver and brain that controls the use of nitrogen in cells.

ChEBI: The D-enantiomer of glutamine.

Glutamine forms the central metabolite in amino acid transamination via a-ketoglutarate and glutamic acid. This amino acid is metabolized by different enzymes, such as glutaminase, present in liver, and glutamine synthetase, present in skeletal muscle. It is produced in the cytoplasm from other amino acids, predominantly from branched-chain amino acids and glutamate. It plays an essential role in ammonia metabolism and detoxification. Its skeletal muscle levels are significantly reduced post trauma, operation and inflammatory states. It servers as a prognostic marker in fatal sepsis during which its skeletal muscle levels are decreased by 90%.