Significance of bacterial translocation in nutrition

Considerable progress has been made during the last decade in the understanding of the pathophysiology of sepsis and multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Gut-derived sepsis has been recognized as an important etiology of multiple organ dysfunction syndrome. Bacterial translocation of indigenous intestinal flora to the systemic circulation has been postulated as an important etiology of gut-derived sepsis. In this paper, we review the fundamental aspects of bacterial translocation as mechanism of disease, and the influence of nutritional support. Critical animal and human data are presented and discussed, and emphasis is given to its potential clinical applications.