ABSTRACT
Aim: to study the relation between tha changes in protein repletion indicators and calorie and nitrogen balance in undernurished patients receiving enteral nutrition. Patients and methods: fourteen patients (11 female, age range 55-85 years old) with an initial serum albumin below 3.5 g/dl or serum transferrin below 200 mg/dl, which receiving enteral nutrition, were studied. On days one and ten of nutritional support, indirect calorimetry, nitrogen balance and serum levels of albumin, transferrin, pre-albumin and total lymphocyte count were measured. Results: initial resting energy expenditure was 25.1ñ5 Kcal/kg/day (115.4ñ20 percent of that predicted by Harris Benedict equations) and urinary urea nitrogen 5.4ñ3.7 g/day. Initial and final nitrogen balances were 66.9ñ71 and 81.4ñ105.9 mg N/kg/day and mean energy balance throughout the study was +9.0ñ7.2 Kcal/kg/day. During the ten days of nutritional support, albumin improved significantly in 0.35ñ0.43 g/dl (15.2ñ19.8 percent). Transferrin, pre-albumin and total lymphocyte count did not change significantly. The changes in these last parameters did not correlate with nitrogen or calorie balance. Conclusions: probably other factors, besides nutritional balances, influence serum protein levels and these may not change despite an adequate nutritional repletion