ICITRU : Randomized Trial of Immunonutrition With L-citrulline in Patients Hospitalized in Intensive Care for Sepsis or Septic Shock

Strategy :

Enteral administration of citrulline for 5 days versus iso-nitrogenous placebo. Amino acid assay and immunological parameters (monocytic expression of HLA-DR, MDSCs, cytokines / chemokines, lymphocyte number and phenotype, apoptosis and lymphocyte proliferation and mitochondrial function and T lymphocyte repertoire) will only be carried out on patients included in Rennes (60 patients).

Inclusion criteria

• Septic patients in accordance with the definition of sepsis and septic shock published in 2016 (JAMA) and whose use is recommended by the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine;
• Initial aggression dated less than 4 days before admission to intensive care (selection of "community" patients). The onset of aggression will be defined by the onset of clinical signs of infection;
• Patients hospitalized for less than 48 hours before admission to intensive care (selection of patients without malnutrition and immunosuppression acquired in hospital) *;
• Patients under invasive mechanical ventilation with a foreseeable ventilation duration> 2 days **;
• Exclusive enteral nutrition;
• Affiliation to a social security scheme;
• Consent signed by the patient, relative or legal representative or inclusion under emergency procedure

Non Inclusion Criteria:

• Progressive Sars-CoV2 infection
• Pregnancy in progress;
• Morbid obesity (BMI> 40);
• State of immunosuppression defined by at least one of these criteria: continuous administration of steroids at any dose for more than one month before hospitalization, steroids at high doses (> 0.5 mg / kg / day of methylprednisolone or equivalent), radiotherapy or chemotherapy in the previous year, proven humoral or cellular deficiency;
• Contraindication to enteral nutrition (SRLF 2016 recommendations: "Enteral nutrition should probably not be used upstream of a high flow digestive fistula in cases of intestinal obstruction, ischemia of the small intestine or digestive hemorrhage. active (Strong agreement) ");
• Participation in intervention research on a drug, or intervention research that could impact the immune system

Exclusion criteria

• Institution of immunosuppressive therapy such as chemotherapy, cyclophosphamide, high dose corticosteroid therapy (> 0.5 mg / kg / day ; hydrocortisone used in the management of septic shock is not considered an exclusion criterion).