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Introduction: Objectives: in routine clinical practice many disorders are found that can disrupt the sequence of reactions in digestion and absorption, leading to malnutrition and requiring the use of oral nutritional supplements (ONS). The objective of our study was to evaluate in a real world setting the use of and compliance with a peptide-based ONS in malnourished adult patients with intestinal compromise after more than 14 days of parenteral nutrition. Material and methods: the study was carried out in 44 malnourished patients who required total parenteral nutrition for at least 14 days without using the oral route during their hospital stay. All patients were administered, on an outpatient basis, 1 brick per day of Vital 1.5® for 12 weeks. At the beginning of treatment and after the intervention period evaluated, the following variables were collected: weight, height, body mass index (BMI), global subjective assessment test, nutritional biochemistry, 3-day nutritional survey, adverse effects generated by the formula, and completion rate. Results: 44 patients were enrolled. Mean age was 70.4 ± 10.4 years (20 women & 24 men). After the intervention the following parameters had increased: BMI (0.51 ± 0.1 kg/m2; p = 0.02), weight (1.4 ± 0.3 kg; p = 0.03), prealbumin (3.5 ± 4.1 mg/dl; p = 0.01), albumin (1.3 ± 0.1 mg/dl; p = 0.03), and transferrin (71.5 ± 24.1 mg/dl; p = 0.02). Dietary intake of the ONS represented 14.4 % of the diet's total caloric intake at 3 months, 17.5 % of carbohydrates, 12.9 % of proteins, and 12.3 % of fats. Mean compliance was 87.7 ± 7.2 % of the prescribed intakes. In relation to the nutritional situation, at the beginning of the study, 52.3 % (n = 23) of patients were in the global subjective assessment test in category B (moderate malnutrition or nutritional risk), and 47.7 % (n = 21) in category C (severe malnutrition). After the intervention, 75 % of patients were in category A (n = 33), 13.6 % (n = 6) in category B, and 11.4 % (n = 5) in category C. Conclusions: the use of a peptide-based ONS with short-chain triglycerides in outpatients showed a beneficial effect on biochemical and anthropometric parameters, and improved the nutritional status of patients with high compliance and good tolerance rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Hepcidin, an antimicrobial peptide which synthesis is regulated by iron status and inflammation, plays an important role in iron homeostasis in hemodialysed (HD) patients. It is measured by measuring serum prohepcidin. Objective: To determine serum prohepcidin levels and their relationship with serum ferritin, C reactive protein (CRP), and albumin in HD patients treated or not with recombinant erythropoietin (EPO) that attended the Health Centre of the Carabobo State in Venezuela. Methodology: This is a descriptive, correlational, and field investigation with a sample comprised by 71 HD patients of whom 57 were treated with EPO. Serum prohepcidin, ferritin, haemoglobin, hematocrit, CRP, and albumin were determined. Anaemia (haemoglobin < 10 g/dL) and iron deficiency (ferritin < 100 ng/mL) were defined according to the criteria recommended by the K/DOQUI group. Reference values: Albumin 3.5-4.8 g/dL, and for acute inflammatory conditions (CRP > 10 mg/L.) Results: The mean value for prohepcidin was 397.5 ng/mL. A high percentage of anaemia was observed (87.3%) and 22.5% of the patients had low levels of serum ferritin. There were no statistically significant differences for ferritin, albumin, CRP, or prohepcidin, between patients with and without EPO therapy. Only the CRP value was significantly correlated (rho = 0.276; p = 0.020) with prohepcidin. Conclusion: HD patients present high levels of prohepcidin, and this may be due to the common ongoing inflammatory process in these patients and not to the iron status measured through serum ferritin levels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of FABICIB: Facultad de Bioquímica y Ciencias Biológicas, Universidad Nacional del Litoral is the property of Universidad Nacional del Litoral and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The great resistance to infectious process in skin is due, in part, to molecules named antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) that constitutes an important component responsible of mechanisms in innate immunity in this tissue. In this review the classification, structure and function of these molecules are shown, besides the information about the resistance mechanisms and their therapeutic potential. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]