Plasma citrulline is known to be a marker of absorptive enterocyte mass in humans. We evaluated whether citrulline and other blood amino acids are indicators of residual small intestinal length and therefore potential predictors of dependence on parenteral nutrition in the long term. We studied 25 patients with short bowel syndrome (SBS) after at least 18 months since last digestive circuit modification; 24 of them were again evaluated 1 year later. Ten patients were weaned off parenteral nutrition and 15 were dependent on parenteral nutrition. Fifty-four healthy volunteers (28 women and 26 men) served as controls. Amino acid levels were determined on serum with high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) as well as on blood and serum with tandem mass spectrometry analysis. Five amino acids (citrulline, leucine, isoleucine, valine and tyrosine) were significantly lower in all SBS patients than in controls, whereas glutamine, measured only by HPLC, was significantly higher. Nevertheless, only serum citrulline measured with HPLC was significantly related to small bowel length. We conclude that HPLC remains the reference methodology to evaluate blood or serum amino acid levels in adult population with SBS.

Download full-text PDF

Source
http://dx.doi.org/10.1159/000170888DOI Listing

Publication Analysis

Top Keywords

parenteral nutrition
12
citrulline blood
8
indicators residual
8
patients short
8
short bowel
8
bowel syndrome
8
amino acids
8
amino acid
8
acid levels
8
blood serum
8

Similar Publications

Thiamine Deficiency Is Common and Underrecognized in Emergency Department Oncology Patients.

J Clin Med

January 2025

Department of Emergency Medicine, Henry Ford Health, Detroit, MI 48202, USA.

: Wernicke's encephalopathy can occur in oncology patients independent of alcohol use, likely resulting from poor dietary thiamine intake. High metabolic demands, such as those in acute illnesses seen in the emergency department (ED), can exacerbate thiamine deficiency. In this study, our objective was to assess the incidence of thiamine deficiency in ED oncology patients, which could lead to Wernicke's encephalopathy or other thiamine deficiency disorders if left untreated.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Macronutrients and Micronutrients in Parenteral Nutrition.

Nutrients

December 2024

Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU), Department of Women's and Children's Health, University Hospital of Padova, 35128 Padova, Italy.

Appropriate nutrition is of paramount importance during infancy and childhood, and Parenteral Nutrition (PN), which is the intravenous infusion of nutrients in the elementary form, may be necessary as a supplement or a full replacement for enteral nutrition [...

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Background: Nutritional support is crucial in critically ill patients to enhance recovery, reduce infections, and improve outcomes. This meta-analysis compared early enteral nutrition (EEN) and early parenteral nutrition (EPN) to evaluate their efficacy in adult critically ill patients.

Methods: A systematic review of 14 studies involving 7618 patients was conducted, including randomized controlled trials, prospective cohorts, and retrospective analyses.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

The Gut in Critical Illness.

Curr Gastroenterol Rep

December 2025

Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care, and Sleep Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 West Watertown Plank Road, 8th Floor: HUB for Collaborative Medicine, Milwaukee, WI, 53226, USA.

Purpose Of Review: The purpose of this narrative review is to describe the mechanisms for gut dysfunction during critical illness, outline hypotheses of gut-derived inflammation, and identify nutrition and non-nutritional therapies that have direct and indirect effects on preserving both epithelial barrier function and gut microbiota during critical illness.

Recent Findings: Clinical and animal model studies have demonstrated that critical illness pathophysiology and interventions breach epithelial barrier function and convert a normally commensal gut microbiome into a pathobiome. As a result, the gut has been postulated to be the "motor" of critical illness and numerous hypotheses have been put forward to explain how it contributes to systemic inflammation and drives multiple organ failure.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Objective: Extremely premature infants are treated with acetaminophen (APAP) for pain and patent ductus arteriosus. High doses of APAP in adults are toxic, and a recent study found an association between APAP metabolite levels in mothers' breast milk and both bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) and retinopathy of prematurity (ROP) in their premature infants. In this study, we determined levels of APAP metabolites in urine of infants at high risk for BPD and ROP.

View Article and Find Full Text PDF

Want AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?

Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!