Intensive Enteral Nutrition in Alcoholic Hepatitis: More Food for Thought

Nutritional Management of a Liver Transplant Candidate

Nearly two-thirds of patients with cirrhosis suffer from malnutrition resulting from multiple contributory factors such as poor intake, accelerated starvation, catabolic milieu, and anabolic resistance. Nutritional assessment and optimization are integral to adequate management of a liver transplant (LT) candidate. A detailed nutritional assessment should be done at baseline in all potential transplant candidates with periodic reassessments. Sarcopenia is defined as a reduction in muscle mass, function, and/or performance. Skeletal muscle index at 3rd lumbar vertebra determined by computed tomography is the most objective tool to assess muscle mass. Hand-grip strength and gait speed are simple tools to gauge muscle strength and performance, respectively. Sarcopenia, sarcopenic obesity, and myosteatosis portend poor outcomes. Sarcopenia contributes greatly to frailty, which is a syndrome of reduced physiological reserve and impaired response to stressors. Dietary interventions must ensure adequate calorie (35-40 kcal/kg/day) and protein (1.2-1.5 gm/kg/day) intake via multiple frequent meals and late-evening calorie-dense snack. Micronutrient supplementation is essential, keeping in mind the etiology of cirrhosis. Individualized, gradually up-titrated exercise prescription consisting of both aerobic and resistance training of 150 min/week is advisable after appropriate risk assessment. Early initiation of enteral nutrition within 12-24 h of LT is recommended. Data with respect to immune-nutrition, monomeric formulas, and hormone replacement remain conflicting at present. A multidisciplinary team comprising of hepatologists, transplant surgeons, intensivists, dieticians, and physiotherapists is vital to improve overall nutrition and outcomes in this vulnerable group.

Review article: the role of nutrition in alcohol-associated liver disease

BACKGROUND

Malnutrition is a commonly encountered issue in patients with alcohol-associated liver disease. The role of nutritional supplementation in the management of alcohol-associated liver disease is integral to patient outcomes-it has been shown to decrease rates of hepatic encephalopathy, improve outcomes post-liver transplant, reduce 90-day hospital readmissions and lower mortality. Despite these benefits, many studies have shown nutritional support to be an underutilised tool in the care of patients with alcohol-associated liver disease.

AIMS

To review the epidemiology, pathophysiology, recommendations for nutritional assessment and supplementation, as well as future directions for research of the relationship between nutrition and alcohol-associated liver disease.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted via PubMed using MeSH terms to inform this narrative review.

RESULTS

Decreased dietary intake, socioeconomic status, impaired absorption of nutrients and increased free radical species are implicated in the pathophysiology of malnutrition in alcohol-associated liver disease.

CONCLUSIONS

Malnutrition is common in alcohol-associated liver disease, and physicians should be aware of its association with poor clinical outcomes. Routine nutritional assessment, involvement of a dietician and nutritional supplementation are recommended to improve clinical outcomes in patients with alcohol-associated liver disease.

Nutritional Considerations in the Hospital Setting

Malnutrition and issues of nutrition are common in hospitalized patients. Identifying patients at nutritional risk can help to improve hospital-related outcomes. Specialized nutritional support in the form of oral nutritional supplementation, enteral nutrition, and parenteral nutrition is essential to meeting the nutritional needs of many patients. Disease-specific nutritional considerations are fundamental to the quality care of hospitalized patients. Many vitamin, macronutrient, and micronutrient deficiencies are relevant in hospital setting.

The effect of malnutrition on the infectious outcomes of hospitalized patients with cirrhosis: analysis of the 2011-2017 hospital data

BACKGROUND

In patients with cirrhosis, there is a clinical concern that the development of protein-calorie malnutrition will affect the immune system and predispose these patients to increased infectious outcomes.

AIMS

In this study, we evaluate the effects of malnutrition on the infectious outcomes of patients admitted with cirrhosis.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

This study used the 2011-2017 National Inpatient Sample to identify patients with cirrhosis. These patients were stratified using malnutrition (protein-calorie malnutrition, cachexia, and sarcopenia) and matched using age, gender, and race with 1:1 nearest neighbor matching method. The endpoints included mortality and infectious outcomes.

RESULTS

After matching, there were 96 842 malnutrition-present cohort and equal number of controls. In univariate analysis, the malnutrition cohort had higher hospital mortality [10.40 vs. 5.04% P < 0.01, odds ratio (OR) 2.18, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.11-2.26]. In multivariate models, malnutrition was associated with increased mortality [P < 0.01, adjusted odds ratio (aOR) 1.32, 95% CI 1.27-1.37] and infectious outcomes, including sepsis (P < 0.01, aOR 1.94, 95% CI 1.89-2.00), pneumonia (P < 0.01, aOR 1.68, 95% CI 1.63-1.73), UTI (P < 0.01, aOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.35-1.43), cellulitis (P < 0.01, aOR 1.09, 95% CI 1.05-1.13), cholangitis (P < 0.01, aOR 1.39, 95% CI 1.26-1.55), and clostridium difficile (P < 0.01, aOR 2.11, 95% CI 1.92-2.31).

CONCLUSION

The results of this study indicate that malnutrition is an independent risk factor of hospital mortality and local/systemic infections in patients admitted with cirrhosis.

Current perspective for tube feeding in the elderly: from identifying malnutrition to providing of enteral nutrition

With the number of individuals older than 65 years expected to rise significantly over the next few decades, dramatic changes to our society and health care system will need to take place to meet their needs. Age-related changes in muscle mass and body composition along with medical comorbidities including stroke, dementia, and depression place elderly adults at high risk for developing malnutrition and frailty. This loss of function and decline in muscle mass (ie, sarcopenia) can be associated with reduced mobility and ability to perform the task of daily living, placing the elderly at an increased risk for falls, fractures, and subsequent institutionalization, leading to a decline in the quality of life and increased mortality. There are a number of modifiable factors that can mitigate some of the muscle loss elderly experience especially when hospitalized. Due to this, it is paramount for providers to understand the pathophysiology behind malnutrition and sarcopenia, be able to assess risk factors for malnutrition, and provide appropriate nutrition support. The present review describes the pathophysiology of malnutrition, identifies contributing factors to this condition, discusses tools to assess nutritional status, and proposes key strategies for optimizing enteral nutrition therapy for the elderly.

Nutrition and Muscle in Cirrhosis

As the cirrhosis progresses, development of complication like ascites, hepatic encephalopathy, variceal bleeding, kidney dysfunction, and hepatocellular carcinoma signify increasing risk of short term mortality. Malnutrition and muscle wasting (sarcopenia) is yet other complications that negatively impact survival, quality of life, and response to stressors, such as infection and surgery in patients with cirrhosis. Conventionally, these are not routinely looked for, because nutritional assessment can be a difficult especially if there is associated fluid retention and/or obesity. Patients with cirrhosis may have a combination of loss of skeletal muscle and gain of adipose tissue, culminating in the condition of "sarcopenic obesity." Sarcopenia in cirrhotic patients has been associated with increased mortality, sepsis complications, hyperammonemia, overt hepatic encephalopathy, and increased length of stay after liver transplantation. Assessment of muscles with cross-sectional imaging studies has become an attractive index of nutritional status evaluation in cirrhosis, as sarcopenia, the major component of malnutrition, is primarily responsible for the adverse clinical consequences seen in patients with liver disease. Cirrhosis is a state of accelerated starvation, with increased gluconeogenesis that requires amino acid diversion from other metabolic functions. Protein homeostasis is disturbed in cirrhosis due to several factors such as hyperammonemia, hormonal, and cytokine abnormalities, physical inactivity and direct effects of ethanol and its metabolites. New approaches to manage sarcopenia are being evolved. Branched chain amino acid supplementation, Myostatin inhibitors, and mitochondrial protective agents are currently in various stages of evaluation in preclinical studies to prevent and reverse sarcopenia, in cirrhosis.

Sarcopenia in Alcoholic Liver Disease: Clinical and Molecular Advances

Despite advances in treatment of alcohol use disorders that focus on increasing abstinence and reducing recidivism, alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is projected to be the major cause of cirrhosis and its complications. Malnutrition is recognized as the most frequent complication in ALD, and despite the high clinical significance, there are no effective therapies to reverse malnutrition in ALD. Malnutrition is a relatively imprecise term, and sarcopenia or skeletal muscle loss, the major component of malnutrition, is primarily responsible for the adverse clinical consequences in patients with liver disease. It is, therefore, critical to define the specific abnormality (sarcopenia) rather than malnutrition in ALD, so that therapies targeting sarcopenia can be developed. Skeletal muscle mass is maintained by a balance between protein synthesis and proteolysis. Both direct effects of ethanol (EtOH) and its metabolites on the skeletal muscle and the consequences of liver disease result in disturbed proteostasis (protein homeostasis) and consequent sarcopenia. Once cirrhosis develops in patients with ALD, abstinence is unlikely to be effective in completely reversing sarcopenia, as other contributors including hyperammonemia, hormonal, and cytokine abnormalities aggravate sarcopenia and maintain a state of anabolic resistance initiated by EtOH. Cirrhosis is also a state of accelerated starvation, with increased gluconeogenesis that requires amino acid diversion from signaling and substrate functions. Novel therapeutic options are being recognized that are likely to supplant the current "deficiency replacement" approach and instead focus on specific molecular perturbations, given the increasing availability of small molecules that can target specific signaling components. Myostatin antagonists, leucine supplementation, and mitochondrial protective agents are currently in various stages of evaluation in preclinical studies to prevent and reverse sarcopenia, in cirrhosis in general, and ALD, specifically. Translation of these data to human studies and clinical application requires priority for allocation of resources.

Emerging concepts in alcoholic hepatitis

Severe alcoholic hepatitis is implicated as a costly, worldwide public health issue with high morbidity and mortality. The one-month survival for severe alcoholic hepatitis is low with mortality rates high as 30%-50%. Abstinence from alcohol is the recommended first-line treatment. Although corticosteroids remain as the current evidence based option for selected patients with discriminant function > 32, improvement of short-term survival rate may be the only benefit. Identification of individuals with risk factors for the development of severe alcoholic hepatitis may provide insight to the diverse clinical spectrum and prognosis of the disease. The understanding of the complex pathophysiologic processes of alcoholic hepatitis is the key to elucidating new therapeutic treatments. Newer research describes the use of gut microbiota modification, immune modulation, stimulation of liver regeneration, caspase inhibitors, farnesoid X receptors, and the extracorporeal liver assist device to aid in hepatocellular recovery. Liver transplantation can be considered as the last medical option for patients failing conventional medical interventions. Although the preliminary data is promising in patients with low risk of recividism, controversy remains due to organ scarcity. This review article comprehensively summarizes the epidemiology, pathophysiology, risk factors, and prognostic indicators of severe alcoholic hepatitis with a focus on the current and emerging therapeutics.

New paradigms in management of alcoholic hepatitis: a review

Severe alcoholic hepatitis (SAH) is defined by modified Maddrey discriminant function ≥32 or Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) >21 and/or hepatic encephalopathy. It has a 3-month mortality rate ≥30-70 %. Patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis need combined, i.e., static (MELD score) and dynamic (Lille's score), prognostication. Systemic inflammation and poor regeneration are hallmarks of SAH, rather than intrahepatic inflammation. SAH is characterized by dysregulated and uncontrolled systemic inflammatory response followed by weak compensatory antiinflammatory response that leads to increased susceptibility to infection and multiple organ failure. Massive necrosis of hepatocytes exceeds the proliferative capacity of hepatocytes. Liver progenitor cells proliferate to form narrow ductules which radiate out into the damaged liver parenchyma. Corticosteroids have been the standard-of-care therapy, albeit controversial. However, the recent Steroids or Pentoxifylline for Alcoholic Hepatitis (STOPAH) trial revealed that prednisolone was not associated with a significant reduction in 28-day mortality, with no improvement in outcomes at 90 days or 1 year. A paradigm shift from antiinflammatory therapy such as corticosteroids to liver regeneration treatment, e.g., granulocyte-colony stimulating factor, molecular targeted treatments, and fecal microbiota transplantation, for severe alcoholic hepatitis is taking place. Liver transplantation should be offered to select patients with severe alcoholic hepatitis who are nonresponsive to medical treatment.

Protein Requirements for Critically Ill Patients With Renal and Liver Failure

Diseases leading to critical illness induce proteolysis resulting in muscle wasting and negative nitrogen balance. Muscle wasting has been associated with poor intensive care unit (ICU)-related outcomes, including an increased risk for mortality. Acute kidney injury (AKI) represents a common organ dysfunction associated with ICU-related disorders, such as sepsis, trauma, and respiratory failure. AKI and renal replacement therapy lead to amino acid loss. Decompensated liver cirrhosis (DLC) and acute liver failure (ALF) represent more severe forms of liver dysfunction leading to ICU admission. DLC and ALF are associated with proteolysis and amino acid loss. AKI, DLC, and ALF uniquely contribute to negative nitrogen balance. The purpose of this review is to outline proteolysis associated with critical illness; define specific protein abnormalities in AKI, DLC, and ALF; define protein requirements in AKI, DLC, and ALF; and discuss barriers associated with optimal protein supplementation in these disorders.

Malnutrition and Nutritional Support in Alcoholic Liver Disease: a Review

Malnutrition is associated with alcoholic liver disease (ALD) and related complications such as hepatic encephalopathy and increased rate of infections. Avoidance of prolonged fasting and overly restrictive diets is important to avoid poor nutrition. Adequate intake of calories, protein, and micronutrients via frequent small meals and evening supplements and/or enteral and parenteral nutrition when indicated has been associated with reduced mortality and morbidity in patients with ALD. Modification of protein/fat sources and composition in addition to probiotic supplementation are promising interventions for decreased progression of ALD and its complications.