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Publications Nutritional Status And Immune Function In Frail Institutionalized Elderly: Preliminary Results. B. A. LIU, E. AGHDASSI, A. MCGEER, A. E. SIMOR, M. MCARTHUR, J. ALLARD, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between nutritional status and immune function in a frail institutionalized elderly population. Subjects 65 years and older who were residing permanently in nursing homes underwent anthropometric and bioelectric impedance analysis of nutritional status. Vitamin levels and in vitro indices of cell-mediated immunity were assessed. 100 subjects (49 male, 51 female), mean age 80 years (SD 8) were assessed. The mean body mass index (BMI) was 24.4 kg/cm2 (SD 5.1). The mean percentage of natural killer cells was 28.9 (SD 140), interleukin-2 activity 13.9% (SD 60), lymphocyte proliferation response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) 114,654 (SD 69342), to pokeweed mitogen (PWM) 838, 185 (SD 7, 48, 891) and to concanavalin-A (CON) 75.185 (SD 51, 389) counts per minute per 105 lymphocytes. BMI of les sthan 22 was associated with a significantly reduced lymphocyte response to PHA (93, 440 vs 127, 546, p=.01) and CON (62, 162 vs 83, 100, p=.04). Low fat (% of body wt) was associated with significantly reduced lymphocyte response to PHA (65,657 vs 177,690, p=.003). Wide variation in immune function exists, however anthropometric indices of malnutrition are associated with in vitro evidence of impared cell-mediated immunity in this population of frail nursing home residents.
AMERICAN GERIATRIC SOCIETY ANNUAL MEETING, May 19 - 22, 1999.
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