Nutrition in heart failure: an update.
OBJECTIVE
Chronic heart failure (CHF) is increasingly recognized as a multisystem disease with important comorbidities such as anemia, insulin resistance, autonomic dysbalance, or cardiac cachexia.


RESULTS
Apart from these perturbations, increasing evidence points to alterations in intestinal morphology, permeability, and absorption function in patients with CHF. This review provides an overview of the sonographic, histological, and functional abnormalities of different gastrointestinal regions. This intestinal dysfunction and disturbed intestinal barrier may lead to both the chronic inflammatory state and catabolic/anabolic imbalance as seen in cardiac cachexia, as a terminal stage of CHF, which carries a particularly poor prognosis. This review highlights the current knowledge of nutritional abnormalities that may occur in CHF, including fat, carbohydrates, proteins, water, and micronutrients. The regulation of feeding is discussed, as are nutritional strategies with potentially anti-inflammatory effects in the treatment of CHF.


CONCLUSIONS
The gut and its role for inflammation and dietary interventions in heart failure patients are a crucial target of further heart failure research.
Sandek
Anja
A
Applied Cachexia Research, Department of Cardiology, Charité Medical School, Berlin, Germany. anja.sandek@charite.de
Doehner
Wolfram
W
Anker
Stefan D
SD
von Haehling
Stephan
S
D002100:Cachexia / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D002908:Chronic Disease; D004734:Energy Metabolism; D005767:Gastrointestinal Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D006333:Heart Failure / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D006801:Humans; D007249:Inflammation / Q000150:complications* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000628:therapy; D044623:Nutrition Therapy