P112 Body composition and resting energy expenditure in IBD patients receiving biological therapy

D. Vranesic Bender1, L. Cengic2, D. Ljubas Kelecic1, I. Karas1, A. Grbin Hodžić3, V. Domislović3, M. Brinar3, M. Juričić1, Ž. Krznarić3

1University Hospital Zagreb, Unit of Clinical Nutrition, Zagreb, Croatia, 2Faculty of Food Technology and Biotechnology, Laboratory of Nutrition Science, Zagreb, Croatia, 3Department of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, University Hospital Zagreb, Zagreb, Croatia

Background

As a feature of changing phenotype of IBD in the last decade, we observe increased rates of obesity and increased BMI values as well as changes in body composition. Special interest is the impact of biological therapy on body composition and prevalence of obesity in IBD patients, since the data on this topic are limited. The aim of this study was to determine body composition and resting energy expenditure of patients treated with biological therapy.

Methods

The study included 74 patients (39 male and 35 female) at the Clinical Hospital Center Zagreb (52 patients with Crohn’s disease and 22 with ulcerative colitis) treated with infliximab/adalimumab/ustekinumab/vedolizumab. Resting energy expenditure was measured by the indirect calorimetry (Cosmed Quark CPET) and compared with the predicted resting energy expenditure calculated using Harris-Benedict equation. Detailed medical and nutritional anamnesis was taken and we measured the following body composition parameters using TANITA body composition analyser, BC-420MA: body mass index (BMI), fat mass (FM), visceral fat rating (VFR), muscle mass (MM) and skeletal muscle mass index (SMI) was calculated.

Results

Increased BMI was observed in 32% of the patients, while 41% of the whole sample had an increased FM. The mean value of skeletal muscle index (SMI) was 9,061,15 kg m−2 and it revealed the presence of moderate sarcopenia in 32 patients (43%), of which 30 were men. Indirect calorimetry (IC) obtained the value of resting energy expenditure (REE), with the measured REE (1569,81240,95 kcal) on average significantly lower than predicted (1640,36255,28 kcal), t(73)=−3.023, p < 0.05. The results of this study revealed a significant prevalence of moderate sarcopenia in men, increased body mass and fat mass, and slightly lowered resting energy expenditure. There was no significant difference between body composition parameters and REE between different types of biological therapy.

Conclusion

The incidence of classical forms of malnutrition in this group of patients is significantly lower in comparison with standard therapy and previous experience. Most of the patients were well nourished and we observed trends toward overweight and sarcopenic obesity in some patients. A slight decrease in REE in the whole sample could be a reflection of impact of biological therapy on fat tissue and profound modulation of lipid metabolism as well as decreased muscle mass and physical activity level of the patients.