title: The clinical evaluation of plasma fibronectin as a marker for nutritional depletion and repletion and as a measure of nitrogen balance.
abstract: Plasma fibronectin has been suggested as a possible marker for nutritional repletion or depletion. This study was undertaken to evaluate the usefulness of plasma fibronectin in patients who received intense nutritional support. Twenty-seven patients referred to our Nutritional Support Services were followed for 3 to 5 wk; 22 received parenteral hyperalimentation alone, two received enteral alone, and three received a combination of both. Plasma fibronectin, serum albumin, serum transferrin, total lymphocyte counts, and 24-hr urine nitrogen balance studies were performed weekly; anthropometric measurements were performed every other week. Plasma fibronectin concentration, measured by laser nephelometry, showed a significant rise (p less than 0.005) in all patients after 1 wk of nutritional therapy; however, there was no significant difference among the subsequent weeks. Plasma fibronectin did not correlate with nitrogen balance studies, serum albumin, or total lymphocyte counts. A correlation between serum transferrin and plasma fibronectin was found not to be clinically useful. Thus, plasma fibronectin is sensitive to nutritional repletion after 1 wk of therapy, but is not useful thereafter. The relationship among nutritional status, immunologic function, plasma fibronectin, and other serum proteins are discussed.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001806:Blood Urea Nitrogen; D004750:Enteral Nutrition; D005260:Female; D005353:Fibronectins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009584:Nitrogen / Q000378:metabolism*; D010289:Parenteral Nutrition, Total; D012709:Serum Albumin / Q000032:analysis; D013997:Time Factors; D014168:Transferrin / Q000032:analysis
chemical_list: D005353:Fibronectins; D012709:Serum Albumin; D014168:Transferrin; D009584:Nitrogen