Medium-chain triglyceride and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing emulsions in intravenous nutrition.

Medium-chain triglycerides and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid emulsions as a physical mixture have attracted increasing interest for use in parenteral nutrition and may play an important role in the development of structured triglycerides in a future generation of new lipids. Over the past two decades, the clinical use of intravenous emulsion for the nutritional support of hospitalized patients has relied exclusively on long-chain triglycerides providing both a safe, calorically dense alternative to dextrose and a source of essential fatty acids needed for biological membranes and maintenance of the immune function. During the past decade, the development of new triglycerides (medium- and long-chain triglyceride emulsions and structured triglyceride emulsions) for parenteral use have provided useful advances and opportunities to enhance nutritional and metabolic support. Medium-chain triglycerides and n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acid emulsions possess unique physical, chemical, and metabolic properties that make them theoretically advantageous over the conventional long-chain triglycerides. The physical mixture of medium- and long-chain triglycerides have been used clinically in patients with critical illness, liver disease, immunosuppression, pulmonary disease, and in premature infants, with good tolerance and the avoidance of some of the problems encountered with long-chain triglycerides alone.