Role of Glutamine Supplementation in Wound Healing: A Prospective Comparative Study

Background: Wound healing is a complicated and well-coordinated process including inflammatory, proliferative, and remodeling phases and requires adequate nutrition. Glutamine acts as a key metabolic substrate for fast proliferating and immune cells, as well as it could promote collagen production, regeneration, and host protection. However, clinical efficacy of this substance in wound healing varies. The present study aims to investigate the effect of glutamine on wound-healing outcomes in comparison with standard wound care. Material and Methods: A prospective comparative study was conducted in a tertiary care hospital from June 2025 to June 2026 among 90 patients with wounds requiring wound management and follow-up visits. They were divided into the control group and glutamine group with 45 people in each group who were provided with standard wound care and standard wound care + oral glutamine, respectively. The following outcome measures were assessed during follow-up visits: wound area, wound-depth reduction, granulation tissue formation, epithelialization, biochemical indicators, pain score, complications, and hospital stay. Statistical analysis was done with IBM SPSS Statistics 26.0; p < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: Baseline demographic, clinical, wound, and biochemical characteristics were comparable between groups. The glutamine group demonstrated greater reduction in wound area during follow-up, with significantly higher percentage wound-area reduction from Day 7 onward. Complete epithelialization at Day 28 occurred in 60.0% versus 35.6%, while complete wound healing was achieved in 84.4% versus 64.4% in the glutamine and control groups, respectively. Mean time to healing was shorter with glutamine. Good granulation tissue formation and reduction in wound depth were significantly greater in the glutamine group. Serum albumin increased and CRP decreased significantly more with glutamine. Hospital stay and pain scores were also lower. Conclusion: Glutamine supplementation as a component of standard wound management resulted in better wound healing, wound-area reduction, granulation tissue formation, and shorter healing time. Larger randomized trials are required to confirm the clinical utility of glutamine supplementation. Keywords: Glutamine; Wound healing; Granulation tissue; Epithelialization; Nutritional supplementation.