Ceramide in lipid emulsions used in parenteral nutrition: an innocent bystander?

Parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease is a prevalent and severe complication of long term parenteral nutrition. We present here for the first time data on the presence of ceramide, a bioactive compound involved in a variety of metabolic processes, in different lipid emulsions used in parenteral nutrition. Further research is needed to determine whether this potential harmful bioactive compound is involved in parenteral nutrition-associated liver disease