Effect of calorie overload on puppy livers during parenteral nutrition

To investigate the possible cause of hepatomegaly during TPN, chemical analyses were performed on the livers of puppies weighing around 2 kg, supported by TPN for 1 wk, under 3 different calorie levels: Group I (5) under 135 cal/kg as standard calorie, Group 2 (6) fed ad libitum with dog food, Group 3 (5) received TPN for 7 days at 135 cal/kg/day, Group 4 (5) TPN at 200 cal/kg/day, and Group 5 (5) at 270 cal/kg/day. The livers of puppies starved for 24 hrs and orally fed were studied as controls.

1) remarkable hepatomegaly with anemic discoloration and rise in sGOT, sGPT, and Alpase were the constant findings in G-2 and G-3.2). Liver weight in starved, fed G-1, G-2, and G-3 were 66.0 +/- 7.5g, 82.8 +/- 18.5g, 108.32 +/- 21.36g and 247.06 +/- 17.83g, respectively. 3) Glycogen and water contents in the livers were: in starved 0.17 +/- 0.07g and 48.75 +/- 5.75 ml, in fed 5.37 +/- 3.24g and 60.72 +/- 13.71 ml, in G-1 10.35 +/- 4.87g and 79.4 +/- 16.84 ml, in G-2 45.05 +/- 7.41G and 173.31 +/- 21.26 ml, and in G-3 45.19 +/- 20.47g and 178.45 +/- 56.63 ml, indicating that the weight increment can be explained by the increase in glycogen and water deposit in the liver. 4) Triglyceride in livers in G-2 and G-3 increased by 2 times the controls. These results suggest the possibility of the occurrence of hepatomegaly with glycogen and water accumulation accompanying the rise in serum enzyme by calorie overload in clinical TPN.