Abstract
Malnutrition is closely associated with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). However, changes before and after treatment remain unclear. We aimed to investigate the longitudinal changes in nutritional status from treatment to follow-up of TB in 215 PTB cases in South Korea. First, we evaluated the trend in body mass index (BMI) from the time of diagnosis to a 2-year follow-up. Second, we compared the BMIs of our cases with 5694 controls who participated in a Korean national survey after treatment. During the treatment period, the BMI of the smear-positive group (n = 72) significantly increased compared with that of the smear-negative group (n = 143) (+1.9 kg/m2 vs. +0.4 kg/m2, p = 0.001). Almost all the changes occurred in the early phase, with unremarkable differences in the rest of the treatment period and up to the 2-year follow-up period. When compared with controls, the smear-positive PTB group also had a lower BMI than the smear-negative PTB group, which, however, was lower than that of the general population, though all the participants regained their BMIs during treatment. These results clarify the nutritional aspects of PTB and enable better strategies to support patients with PTB.
Highlights
Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is the most lethal infectious disease in the world and has afflicted humans for centuries
We aimed to determine whether the nutritional status of patients with Pulmonary TB (PTB) could be completely recovered to match that of the general population
A total of 215 patients with PTB, consisting of 72 (33.5%) acid-fast bacilli (AFB) smear-positive cases and 143 (66.5%) AFB smear-negative cases were included for analysis
Summary
Tuberculosis (TB), caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB), is the most lethal infectious disease in the world and has afflicted humans for centuries. The association between the development of active TB and malnutrition has been described on the basis of geographical correlation, animal models, and observational studies in humans [2,3,4,5]. The mechanism by which malnutrition leads to PTB occurrence is not yet clear. Malnutrition may reduce the proliferation of T lymphocytes and impair cell-mediated immunity, which in turn may lead to increased susceptibility to infection [2]. Obesity is considered a protective factor against active PTB [6,7]. Malnutrition is an important factor in the development of PTB and is considered to be associated with the relapse risk and treatment response rate of PTB [8,9]
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