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Nutrition Status and Intestinal Permeability in Patients Eligible for Liver Transplantation
Author(s) -
Liboredo Juliana Costa,
Vilela Eduardo Garcia,
Ferrari Maria de Lourdes de Abreu,
Lima Agnaldo Soares,
Correia Maria Isabel Toulson Davisson
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
journal of parenteral and enteral nutrition
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.935
H-Index - 98
eISSN - 1941-2444
pISSN - 0148-6071
DOI - 10.1177/0148607113513465
Subject(s) - intestinal permeability , medicine , lactulose , gastroenterology , bioelectrical impedance analysis , cirrhosis , anthropometry , parenteral nutrition , liver disease , small intestinal bacterial overgrowth , liver transplantation , transplantation , body mass index , irritable bowel syndrome
Background: Increased intestinal permeability has been reported in multiple studies of cirrhotic patients, although specific factors associated with this finding have not been fully elucidated. Thus, the aim of this study was to investigate whether there was an association between nutrition status measured by different methods and intestinal permeability in cirrhotic patients who were candidates for liver transplantation. Materials and Methods : The study group comprised 18 cirrhotic patients and 15 healthy controls. Patients' nutrition status was evaluated by Subjective Global Assessment (SGA), anthropometry, dynamometry, and phase angle, which was determined by bioelectrical impedance analysis. Intestinal permeability was assessed by the lactulose/mannitol test. Results : The prevalence of malnutrition showed wide variance between different assessment methods (5.5%–77.8%). Intestinal permeability was significantly higher in cirrhotic patients than in healthy controls. In relation to nutrition status, intestinal permeability and phase angle did not differ significantly between patients who were considered well nourished (median intestinal permeability, 0.010 [range, 0.001–0.198]; median phase angle, 6.0 [range, 4.2–6.9]) and malnourished patients (intestinal permeability, 0.032 [range, 0.002–0.079]; phase angle, 4.8 [range, 2.2–6.1]) by SGA. In addition, no correlation was found between nutrition diagnosis as assessed by different methods, patient age, liver disease severity scores, and laboratory measurements with intestinal permeability. Conclusion : Although intestinal permeability was increased in cirrhotic patients, this finding was not associated with nutrition status.