The role of bile acids in nutritional support

Abstract Nutritional support continues to receive much attention as a possible intervention to prevent loss of lean tissue mass, promote recovery and re-establish proper immune function in critical care patients. Yet there remains much controversy regarding the clinical efficacy of such intervention...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Gustav van Niekerk, Tanja Davis, Willem de Villiers, Anna-Mart Engelbrecht
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: BMC 2018-09-01
Series:Critical Care
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s13054-018-2160-4
Description
Summary:Abstract Nutritional support continues to receive much attention as a possible intervention to prevent loss of lean tissue mass, promote recovery and re-establish proper immune function in critical care patients. Yet there remains much controversy regarding the clinical efficacy of such interventions. In addition to the direct effect of nutrition in terms of micro- and macronutrient content, nutritional formulations may exert an effect via the physiological response to feeding. Here, we highlight the key role of postprandial reabsorbed bile acids in attenuating both the inflammatory response and autophagy. These observations suggest that not all patients would benefit from aggressive nutritional support.
ISSN:1364-8535