['To find out whether supplementation of an enteral diet with glutamine would reduce translocation of bacteria to mesenteric lymph nodes or blood after major haemorrhage in rats.', 'Open randomised study.', 'University departments of surgery and microbiology, Sweden.', '49 Sprague-Dawley rats.', 'Rats were fed enterally for 7 days on diets supplemented with either glutamine or an isonitrogenous amount of non-essential amino acids. After feeding, 8 experimental and 8 control rats underwent sham operation; 9 and 7, respectively, underwent moderate haemorrhage (to 65 mm Hg); and 9 and 8, respectively, underwent severe haemorrhage (50 mm Hg) without reinfusion.', 'Microbiological analyses of samples of blood and mesenteric lymph nodes taken 24 hours after haemorrhage.', 'The median (interquartile) number of colony forming units/mesenteric lymph nodes after moderate haemorrhage in animals who were given glutamine supplementation was 11 (0-34) and in control animals 20 (0-178). After severe haemorrhage the corresponding figures were 199 (10-310) and 22 (0-187). No pathogens were isolated from blood cultures.'] Does glutamine supplementation prevent bacterial translocation after non-lethal haemorrhage in rats?