title: Effects of cyclic enteral nutrition on the immunological status of malnourished patients.
abstract: The effects of 2 weeks of refeeding by cyclic enteral nutrition on chronically malnourished (mean global nutritional deficiency 19.9 +/- 1.1%) hospitalized patients were assessed in a prospective study with special attention paid to immunological status. All patients were immunodeficient, with cell-mediated immunity being more affected than humoral immunity. After 2 weeks of refeeding, nutritional status had improved by 29.8%. Initially abnormal parameters of humoral immunity (IgM, C3 and C4) improved significantly (P < 0.05) between day 0 and day 15. The following cell-mediated immunity parameters also improved significantly (P < 0.05): CD8, monocyte count, natural killer cell activity and skin tests. Short-term refeeding by cyclic enteral nutrition appears to be a safe and effective way of improving immunodeficiency in chronically malnourished patients, with predictable consequences on infection.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Hôpital de I'Archet, BP 79, 06202 Nice Cedex 3, France.
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Schneider
authors.forename: X
authors.initials: X
authors.lastname: Hébuterne
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Benzaken
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Hastier
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Tran
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rampal