SMOFlipid to Lessen the Severity of Neonatal Cholestasis

Plain-language summary

Parenteral nutrition (PN) provides intravenous nutritional supplementation for infants unable to absorb adequate enteral nutrients secondary to insufficient intestinal length or function. In early PN-associated cholestasis, the dose of traditional soy based lipid is limited to 1 g/kg/day which often limits the growth capacity of parenteral nutrition-dependent infants. Inadequate growth is directly related to poor neurological outcomes, failure to facilitate mechanical ventilation, and less growth of the neonate's already damaged intestine. Ultimately, these outcomes can lead to severe disability and death. To mitigate these deleterious effects and optimize growth, parenteral nutrition-dependent infants with cholestasis who are not adequately growing on 1 g/kg/day of soy-based lipid emulsion must have a greater intake of lipids to meet their needs for weight, length, and head circumference growth. SMOFlipid contains a mixture of 4 different lipid sources: soybean oil which provides essential fatty acids, olive oil which is high in monounsaturated fatty acids that are less susceptible to lipid peroxidation than polyunsaturated fatty acids, medium-chain triglycerides which show a faster metabolic clearance than long-chain triglycerides, and fish oil which provides the supply of omega-3 fatty acids. The utility of Omegaven and soy-based lipid emulsion is limited as these are restricted to 1 g/kg/day in cholestatic infants. SMOFlipid is safe to be provided at the usual goal infusion amount of 3 g/kg/day. Because this product includes both omega-6 and omega-3 lipids, it provides the benefits of the omega-3s for the liver and provides more than enough omega-6s to meet essential fatty acid requirements. Its use in situations in which growth is inadequate in babies who must be restricted to 1 g/kg/day can be expected to improve their growth and likely markedly increase their chances of both a good neurological outcome and survival. The aim of this research study is to determine if the unique formulation of SMOFLipid will cause less hepatic inflammation compared to soy only intralipids.

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