title: Body composition during nutritional repletion of severely undernourished men.
abstract: Body composition was studied in severely undernourished adult male inhabitants of a rural area of Colombia to evaluate the extent and the time course of the changes occurring upon nutritional repletion. During a 45-day basal period on a low (26g/day) protein diet containing adequate calories, body fat depots increased significantly (mean +/- SD = +3.02 +/- 2.9 kg), and there was a significant decrease in cell hydration from 81.8 to 76.4% (-5.4 +/- 9.1%). Upon protein repletion (100 g/day), cell hydration decreased significantly to 71.4%, while body cell mass increased markedly (9.0 +/- 1.1 kg). During protein repletion, muscle cell mass increased significantly (+5.5 +/- 0.6 kg) and rapidly, while the increase in nonmuscle cells (+3.5 +/- 3.8 kg) and specifically in red cell mass lagged behind. With repletion, the changes in the absolute values for plasma volume (+0.4 +/- 0.13 liters) were significant, but those in extracellular fluid volume (-0.7 +/- 1.9 liters) were not. Thus, the major compositional changes observed occurred in the body fat and the body cell mass components; these occurred independently of each other.
mesh_terms: D000273:Adipose Tissue / Q000473:pathology; D000328:Adult; D001798:Blood Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D001823:Body Composition; D001824:Body Constitution; D001825:Body Fluid Compartments; D003105:Colombia; D004044:Dietary Proteins / Q000008:administration & dosage* / Q000627:therapeutic use; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009132:Muscles / Q000473:pathology; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000178:diet therapy / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D011488:Protein Deficiency / Q000378:metabolism; D012885:Skinfold Thickness
chemical_list: D001798:Blood Proteins; D004044:Dietary Proteins