Malnutrition and Fracture Healing: Are Specific Deficiencies in Amino Acids Important in Nonunion Development?

Dennis M Meesters, Karolina A P Wijnands, Peter R G Brink, Martijn Poeze

Journal: Nutrients 2019;10(11):1597

PMID: 30384490

Abstract

With the increasing incidence of fractures now, and in the future, the absolute number of bone-healing complications such as nonunion development will also increase. Next to fracture-dependent factors such as large bone loss volumes and inadequate stabilization, the nutritional state of these patients is a major influential factor for the fracture repair process. In this review, we will focus on the influence of protein/amino acid malnutrition and its influence on fracture healing. Mainly, the arginine-citrulline-nitric oxide metabolism is of importance since it can affect fracture healing via several precursors of collagen formation, and through nitric oxide synthases it has influences on the bio-molecular inflammatory responses and the local capillary growth and circulation.

Address: Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected].; NUTRIM School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected].; Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected].; NUTRIM School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected].; Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected].; Department of Surgery, Maastricht University Medical Center, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected].; NUTRIM School for Nutrition and Translational Research in Metabolism, P.O. Box 616, 6200 MD Maastricht, The Netherlands. [email protected].

DOI: 10.3390/nu10111597

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MeSH Terms: Amino Acids, Fracture Healing, Fractures, Ununited, Humans, Malnutrition