The malarial impact on the nutritional status of Amazonian adult subjects

Abstract

The anthropometric (body weight, height, upper arm circumference, triceps and subescapular skinfolds; Quetelet index and arm muscle circumference) and blood biochemistry (proteins and lipids) parameters were evaluated in 93 males and 27 females, 17-72 years old voluntaries living in the malarial endemic area of Humaita city (southwest Amazon). According to their malarial history they were assembled in four different groups: G1--controls without malarial history (n:30); G2--controls with malarial history but without actual manifestation of the disease (n:40); G3--patients with Plasmodium vivax (n:19) and G4--patients with Plasmodium falciparum (n:31). The malarial status was stablished by clinical and laboratory findings. The overall data of anthropometry and blood biochemistry discriminated the groups differently. The anthropometric data were low sensitive and contrasted only the two extremes (G1 > G4) whereas the biochemistry differentiated two big groups, the healthy (G1 + G2) and the patients (G3 + G4). The nutritional status of the P. falciparum patients was highly depressed for most of the studied indices but none was sensitive enough to differentiate this group from the P. vivax group (G3). On the other hand the two healthy groups could be differentiated through the levels of ceruloplasmin (G1< G2) and alpha nitrogen (G1 > G2). Thus it seems that the malaria-malnourishment state exists and the results could be framed either as a consequence of nutrient sink and/or the infection stress both motivated by the parasite.

Mercury in hair and in fish consumed by Riparian women of the Rio Negro, Amazon, Brazil

“…Although such tests are sensitive to neurophysiological disturbances they offered no important prognosis. Indeed in our population there were no signs of neurological complains perceived to interfere with day-to-day functioning or debilitating like malaria (Pereira et al 1995).…”

“…Nutritional status depends on food availability which is determined by hydrological cycles, but is also impacted by frequent intestinal parasites (Giugliano et al 1984) and endemic diseases like malaria (Pereira et al 1995). The bulk of their diet is starchy roots and fish, and milk or dairy products are rarely consumed (Giugliano et al 1984).…”

Situação nutricional e alimentar de portadores de Malária residentes no Amazonas - Brasil

“…Portanto, em resposta a infecção malárica, podem ocorrer perdas de reservas orgânicas, devido em parte a anorexia, vômitos, e ao efeito do estado hipercatabólico associado à febre. Deste modo, estas alterações contribuem para acelerar o consumo das reservas calóricas do organismo, armazenadas como gordura, principalmente, sob a forma de tecido adiposo (Beisel, 1980;McGregor, 1982;Berezin & Succi, 1989;Delgado et al, 1995;Pereira et al, 1995 Neste sentido, deve ser levado em consideração, o fato do universo estudado ter sido constituído, em sua totalidade, por pacientes que procuravam a FNS, para esclarecimento diagnóstico do processo febril inicial, portanto, no estágio inicial da malária, quando ainda não é possível detectar alterações metabólicas nos líquidos e estoques corporais. Do mesmo modo, é perfeitamente possível se admitir que a dieta consumida pelos portadores de malária (rica em carboidratos e proteínas), tenha sido um fator atenuante, a impedir a depleção dos nutrientes circulantes e estoques corporais, decorrentes do catabolismo celular, provocado pela presença do Plasmodium, e, atuação dos demais fatores agravantes do estado nutricional da referida população.…”

Nutritional status of children with vivax malaria in the Amazon Basin

“…The relation between malaria and nutritional status is controversial and complex once nutritional status influences the immune response to infection whereas the infection directly influences the nutritional status. Some studies have not found associations between the disease and the nutritional status whereas others have shown that the poor nutritional status has a significant impact on the morbidity and mortality due to malaria [9][10][11][12].…”