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[Biochemistry](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/) · Molecule

# Glutamine

Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in blood: it carries ammonia safely and feeds the gut, the kidney and immune cells.

Updated 2026-11-01

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## Key facts

- Glutamine synthetase makes it from glutamate + NH₄⁺ + ATP; glutaminase turns it back into glutamate + NH₄⁺.
- It carries nitrogen from almost every tissue to the liver and kidney.
- In the kidney, glutaminase releases NH₄⁺ that leaves in urine with acid; this rises in metabolic acidosis.
- It donates nitrogen for purines, pyrimidines and amino sugars.

**Formula**
C₅H₁₀N₂O₃

**PubChem**
[CID 5961](https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5961)

## Structure

- It is the amide of glutamate: the side-chain carboxyl becomes an amide group (–CONH₂).

## Clinical notes

- In hyperammonaemia, glutamine builds up in astrocytes and causes cerebral oedema; it rises in plasma and cerebrospinal fluid.
- It is the preferred fuel of enterocytes and lymphocytes.
- Many tumours depend on it to grow («glutamine addiction»).

## Pathways

- [Urea cycle](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/pathways/urea-cycle/)
- [De novo purine synthesis](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/pathways/de-novo-purine-synthesis/)
- [Pyrimidine synthesis](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/pathways/pyrimidine-synthesis/)

## Related conditions

- [Hyperammonaemia](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/hyperammonaemia/)
- [Ornithine transcarbamylase (OTC) deficiency](https://durgical.com/en/conditions/ornithine-transcarbamylase-deficiency/)

## Related

- [Glutamate (glutamic acid)](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/molecules/glutamate/)
- [Glutamine synthetase](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/enzymes/glutamine-synthetase/)
- [Ammonia (ammonium)](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/molecules/ammonia/)
- [Transamination and deamination](https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/topics/transamination-and-deamination/)

## Test yourself

Think of the answer, then tap the question to see it.

## Which enzyme makes glutamine, and what does it spend?

Glutamine synthetase: it joins glutamate and NH₄⁺ using one ATP.

## Why does the kidney use more glutamine in metabolic acidosis?

Renal glutaminase releases NH₄⁺, which traps protons and removes them in urine.

## What happens to brain glutamine during hyperammonaemia?

Astrocytes pile it up while fixing ammonia; it draws in water, they swell and cerebral oedema follows.

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Molecules are shown in their neutral form, as the databases deposit them; in the cell the acids and phosphates are ionised.

Educational information, not medical advice. For any symptom, see a health professional.

Sources: [L-Glutamine (CID 5961)](https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/5961) (PubChem, NCBI, 2026) · Public domain; [Glutamate and glutamine metabolism](https://reactome.org/PathwayBrowser/#/R-HSA-8964539) (Reactome, 2026); Textbook of Biochemistry for Medical Students, 6th ed. (Jaypee Brothers Medical Publishers (Vasudevan DM, Sreekumari S, Vaidyanathan K), 2011).

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Source: https://durgical.com/en/biochemistry/molecules/glutamine/
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