TOTAL-BODY NITROGEN AS A PREDICTOR OF CLINICAL STATUS IN ANOREXIA-NERVOSA

It has been demonstrated that clinical outcome is positively correlate d with depletion of total body nitrogen (TBN) and therefore of body pr otein in certain serious medical conditions such as cystic fibrosis or patients receiving dialysis for chronic renal failure. Patients with anorexia nervosa are not suffering from medical illness per se yet the illness can be chronic and severely debilitating requiring numerous h ospitalizations for refeeding and/or management of medical complicatio ns. The prediction of chronicity remains an important and difficult is sue that this study seeks to address by examining the correlation betw een several clinical indices in 18 patients suffering from anorexia ne rvosa with parameters of body composition, namely TBN and percentage b ody fat. TBN was measured using the technique of in vivo neutron-activ ation analysis (IVNAA) and expressed as nitrogen index. Percentage bod y fat was estimated using skinfold measurements. The highest correlati on was between nitrogen index and number of hospitalizations (r = -.80 ). The data support a relationship between depletion of body nitrogen/ protein and chronicity in anorexia nervosa. (C) 1994 by John Wiley & S ons, Inc.