Magnitude of body-cell-mass depletion and the timing of death from wasting in AIDS.

The impact of malnutrition on survival in AIDS was evaluated by examining the magnitude of body-cell-mass depletion as a function of time from death. Body cell mass was estimated as total body-potassium content and determined by whole-body counting. There was progressive depletion of body cell mass as patients neared death. The extrapolated and observed values for body cell mass at death were 54% of normal. Body weight had a similar relationship to death, with a projected body weight at death of 66% of ideal. We conclude that death from wasting in AIDS is related to the magnitude of tissue depletion and is independent of the underlying cause of wasting. The degree of wasting seen in this study is similar to historical reports of semistarvation, with or without associated infections. This observation suggests that successful attempts to maintain body mass could prolong survival in patients with AIDS.

[1]  J. Wang,et al.  Body mass repletion during ganciclovir treatment of cytomegalovirus infections in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. , 1989, Archives of internal medicine.

[2]  J. Wang,et al.  Body composition studies in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. , 1985, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[3]  C. Lightdale,et al.  Malabsorption and mucosal abnormalities of the small intestine in the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. , 1985, Annals of internal medicine.

[4]  D. Kotler,et al.  Enteropathy associated with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome. , 1984, Annals of internal medicine.

[5]  R. Ortíz,et al.  Cell proliferation in bone marrow cells of severely malnourished animals. , 1984, The Journal of nutrition.

[6]  J. Wang,et al.  Body potassium by four-pi 40K counting: an anthropometric correction. , 1984, The American journal of physiology.

[7]  L. Allen,et al.  The functional assessment of nutritional status: principles, practice and potential. , 2009, Nutrition reviews.

[8]  R. Edelman,et al.  Single-nutrient effects on immunologic functions. Report of a workshop sponsored by the Department of Food and Nutrition and its nutrition advisory group of the American Medical Association. , 1981, JAMA.

[9]  A. Heller,et al.  Clinical aspects of hunger disease in adults. , 1979, Current concepts in nutrition.

[10]  G. Spurr,et al.  Body composition in chronic undernutrition. , 1978, The American journal of clinical nutrition.

[11]  G F Cahill,et al.  Starvation in man. , 1970, The New England journal of medicine.

[12]  G. Alleyne,et al.  Relationship between muscle potassium and total body potassium in infants with malnutrition. , 1969, The Journal of pediatrics.

[13]  W. Gaffey,et al.  Measures of body fat and related factors in normal adults. II. A simple clinical method to estimate body fat and lean body mass. , 1965, Journal of chronic diseases.

[14]  Josef Brozek,et al.  The Biology of Human Starvation. , 1950 .

[15]  A. Keys,et al.  Medical aspects of semistravation in Leningrad (siege 1941-1942). , 1946, American review of Soviet medicine.