title: Nutritional status in patients with ulcerative colitis in Isfahan, Iran.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Malnutrition is common among patients with inflammatory bowel disease. The present study aimed to investigate the nutritional status of ulcerative colitis (UC) patients in Isfahan, Iran.
  
  
  METHODS
  In this descriptive analytical cross-sectional study, between Dec 2011 and Jun 2012, 99 patients with UC were randomly selected and evaluated. Age, sex, duration of disease, body mass index (BMI) and laboratory parameters recorded for all patients. Nutritional risk index (NRI) was calculated and its association with patients' variables was assessed with regard to UC disease severity.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Twelve patients out of 99 patients had mild UC and 87 patients had moderate to severe UC. Based on the NRI, 90.9% were not malnourished and 9.1% were at moderate to severe risk for malnutrition. Among laboratory parameters only, serum potassium level in patients with moderate to severe UC was significantly higher than those with mild UC (P = 0.017). Other laboratory parameters were similar between patients stratified by US status. Patients age s significantly correlate with serum vitamin D, immunoglobulin a (IgA) and potassium level (P > 0.05), also duration of disease was significantly correlate with Phosphorus (P = 0.024) among laboratory parameters.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  In studied UC patients, malnutrition risk was based on degree of disease severity. Patients with moderate to severe UC were more at risk for malnutrition compared to the patients with mild UC. Furthermore, among laboratory parameters only serum potassium level was higher among patients with moderate to severe UC compared to others.
authors.affiliation: Department of Gastroenterology, Isfahan Liver Disease Research Center, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Hamid
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kalantari
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Sayyed Majid
authors.initials: SM
authors.lastname: Barekat
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, School of Public Health, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Mohammad Reza
authors.initials: MR
authors.lastname: Maracy
authors.affiliation: Department of Community Nutrition, School of Nutrition and Food Science, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Leila
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Azadbakht
authors.affiliation: Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, School of Medicine, Isfahan University of Medical Sciences, Isfahan, Iran.
authors.forename: Zahra
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Shahshahan
keywords: Inflammatory bowel disease; malnutrition; nutritional risk index; ulcerative colitis