Journal of Nutrition & Food Sciences
Open Access
ISSN: 2155-9600
ISSN: 2155-9600
Manuela Merli
Sapienza University of Rome, Italy
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Nutr Food Sci
Chronic liver disease has relevant consequences on nutritional status. Depletion in lean body mass defined as sarcopenia, is frequently encountered in patients with end stage liver disease which undergo liver transplantation. On the other hand, in the last decades, a trend showing an increase in patients with end stage liver disease and associated obesity has also been reported in developed countries. The importance of carefully assessing the nutritional status during the workup of patients who are candidates for liver replacement is widely accepted, since both sarcopenic and obese patients have an increased surgical risk; malnutrition may further impact morbidity, mortality and costs in the post transplantation setting. After transplantation, when liver function is restored, many metabolic alterations are corrected, dietary intake is progressively normalized and lifestyle changes may improve physical activity. Studies examining the modifications in body composition that occur in liver recipients have reported a progressive increase in fat mass, while muscle mass recovery is subtle and non significant by the end of the first year after transplantation. In some patients, unregulated weight gain may lead to over nutrition and may favor metabolic disorders leading to the so called ��?metabolic syndrome��?, which may play a negative role on the overall survival of liver transplant patients. Careful monitoring of nutritional status after liver transplantation is important to identify patients who are at risk for a persistence of malnutrition or for a too rapid weight gain. Physical and nutritional interventions must be investigated to evaluate their potential beneficial effect on body composition and muscle function before and after liver transplantation.
Email: manuela.merli@uniroma1.it