Carotid artery intima-media thickness in adults receiving long-term home parenteral nutrition

Background and aims: Nutrition regimen in parenteral nutrition (PN) patients allows for a control of diet components. This may affect the process of lipid deposition in the vascular wall and change the risk of atherosclerosis. This study aims to examine the effect of long-term PN in adults on carotid intima-media thickness. Methods and results: Thirty long-term PN patients (15 men and 15 women, mean age 64.7 +/- 8.5 years) and thirty healthy volunteers (HV) (15 men and 15 women, mean age 64.9 +/- 8.77 years) entered the study. Total amino acid and lipid formulation intake as well as duration of PN were calculated for PN patients. The common carotid artery intima-media thickness (CCA IMT) was examined in both groups. A lower CCA IMT (right/left mean: PN - 776 +/- 121 vs HV - 848 +/- 121 pan, p < 0.05; right/left maximum CCA IMT: PN - 935 +/- 139 vs HV - 1024 +/- 135 pn, p < 0.05) in PN patients was observed. A lower serum level of total (PN - 131.43 +/- 43.12 vs HV - 209.2 +/- 48.01 mg/dl, p < 0.05) and HDL (PN- 44.16 +/- 12.45 vs HV - 72.57 +/- 25.04 mg/dl, p < 0.05) cholesterol was reported in the PN patients. A correlation between patients' age and CCA IMT was observed in the control group, but not in the PN patients (right/left mean CCA IMT - PN: r = 0.48, p-0.007 vs HV: p-0.073; right/left maximum CCA IMT - PN: r = 0.48, p-0.008, vs HV: p-0.073). Conclusions: Long term PN in adults is associated with lower CCA IMT. Long-term PN patients are a unique group in which carotid intima-media thickness does not correlate with the age. (C) 2020 The Italian Diabetes Society, the Italian Society for the Study of Atherosclerosis, the Italian Society of Human Nutrition and the Department of Clinical Medicine and Surgery, Federico II University. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

This study observed that long-term parenteral nutrition (PN) in adults is associated with lower carotid intima-media thickness (CCA IMT), as well as lower serum levels of total and HDL cholesterol. Interestingly, in PN patients, CCA IMT did not correlate with age, marking them as a unique group.