Hepatic function during short-term total parenteral nutrition: effect of exposure of parenteral nutrients to light

Total parenteral nutrition (TPN) solutions either exposed to light (+L) or protected from light (-L) were infused for 5 days through jugular cannulas in freely moving rats placed in metabolic cages. At the end of the 5 day period, bile flow, biliary inorganic phosphate and biliary gamma-glutamyl transferase activity, as well as biliary concentrations of several essential and branch chain amino acids were significantly lower in the -L animals compared to +L animals. In addition, biliary glutathione was significantly lower in the +L animals. In both groups of animals, plasma tyrosine decreased significantly from pre-TPN values despite a doubling of plasma phenylalanine concentrations suggesting that tyrosine may become a conditionally essential amino acid in rats provided TPN. Our findings indicate that short-term parenteral infusion of light exposed TPN solutions alters hepatobiliary function as well as amino acid homeostasis and that the changes are minimized by light protection of the infusates. The exact mechanisms of the contribution of light exposure in the induction of hepatic dysfunction remain to elucidated.