Body composition among HIV-Seropositive and HIV-Seronegative adult patients with Pulmonary Tuberculosis in Uganda

Abstract

Body wasting is a prominent and cardinal feature of tuberculosis (TB) (1, 2) and is a marker of disease severity and outcome. In sub-Saharan Africa, a large proportion of patients with TB also have coinfection with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) (3). Coinfection may worsen the wasting seen in either TB or HIV infection alone (4, 5). Wasting in TB is associated with reduced caloric intake due to anorexia or loss of appetite and increase in consumption of calories due to altered metabolism induced by inflammation and immune response (6–8). Several studies (9–15) in sub-Saharan Africa have shown the impact of dual infection with HIV and TB on nutritional