Total parenteral nutrition in experimental uremia: studies of acute and chronic renal failure in the growing rat.

The effects of total parenteral nutrition (TPN) on experimental acute and chronic renal failure were studied with special reference to age in the rat. TPN prolonged survival in acute renal failure. The young experimental animals benefitted more than the TPN. The accumulation of urea in the body was inhibited during TPN. In chronic renal failure, the low nitrogen TPN with essential amino acids as the source of nitrogen had no advantages over a regular diet fed ad libitum. Instead the TPN-rats had a markedly less positive nitrogen balance than the uremic and healthy controls. This difference was accentuated in the rapidly growing young animals. The results of this study suggest that TPN has a crucial role in the treatment of acute renal failure at an early age and are against the use of low protein diets in chronic renal failure if rapid growth is expected.