Hepatic steatosis due to total parenteral nutrition: the influence of short-gut syndrome, refeeding, and small bowel transplantation.

This study was undertaken to determine whether refeeding through the native small intestine or through a small bowel transplant would reverse hepatic steatosis induced by total parenteral nutrition (TPN), and of what influence a coexisting short-gut syndrome is. Three short-gut syndromes of different severity were established in Lewis rats (short-gut I, mild; short-gut II, moderate; short-gut III, severe). TPN was administered for 10 days and the animals were refed for 20 days. A liver biopsy after the TPN period confirmed a mild to moderate fatty infiltration of the liver in all groups. After the refeeding period a second liver biopsy was obtained and no evidence of hepatic steatosis was observed in Groups 1, 2, 3, and 4 (normal Lewis rat, short-gut I, II, and III). The animals in group 5 (short-gut I) received a syngeneic small bowel transplant after discontinuation of TPN. After the refeeding period the liver biopsies showed no evidence of fatty infiltration. The intestinal graft also reversed the nutritional deficiencies which were observed in the animals with short-gut and showed normal body weight gain and nitrogen and fat uptake in comparison to the normal animals (Group 1). These data show that a small bowel graft is capable of reversing the deleterious sequelae of short-gut syndrome as well as the TPN-related hepatic steatosis.