NASPGHAN awards $150K to pediatric hepatologist for parenteral nutrition research

The North American Society for Pediatric Gastroenterology Hepatology and Nutrition awarded Ajay Jain, MD, medical director of the pediatric liver transplant program at SSM Health Cardinal Glennon Children's Medical Center, a $150,000 grant to study preventative strategies for total parenteral nutrition-associated disorders, according to a press release.

According to the release, Jain's previous research identified unique molecules and pathways that are altered during total parenteral nutrition (TPN). TPN is a process that provides nutritional needs intravenously for patients who cannot get nutrition through their gut and contains carbohydrates, proteins, lipids, vitamins, minerals and other nutrients essential for normal nutrition. If someone does not receive TPN, potentially part or all of their digestive system will not function normally.

Ajay Jain

The grant will allow Jain to “assess these molecules and devise strategies and pharmacological therapies to correct the defect and mitigate complications caused by TPN,” according to the release.

“Our hypothesis is that during TPN infusion the normal gut-to-liver cross talk gets disrupted, leading to multi-organ dysfunction,” Jain said in the release. “This stems from the simple fact that parenteral nutrition related injury is minimal if at least some nutrition is delivered via the gut.

“We believe that our unique hypothesis and strong preliminary data can eventually bring strategies to fruition, which could mitigate serious complication of a critical life-saving therapy.”

TPN-related complications affect newborn babies the most, according to Jain, and there are currently no effective therapies approved to treat these complications.

“There is a high priority need for developing treatments to ameliorate these unfortunate complications,” Jain said.

Complications include severe jaundice, liver fibrosis, cirrhosis and portal hypertension, Jain said in the release.

“Accompanying the progressive liver failure, impairment of blood flow through the liver leads to a condition called portal hypertension,” Jain said. “This causes illness so severe that patients may require a liver transplantation for survival.”