OBJECTIVETo investigate the differences in body composition between Crohn's disease(CD) patients and healthy subjects as well as the characteristics of human body composition in various types of CD.

METHODSA total of 57 CD patients were prospectively selected from the Sixth Affiliated Hospital of Sun Yat-sen University as the study group, while 51 healthy subjects as the control group. Protein content, mineral content, fat content, lean body mass, waist circumference, and hip circumference in the two groups were measured by body composition analyzer. Characteristics of CD at different location and different disease activity index were investigated as well.

RESULTSIntracellular fluid, extracellular fluid, weight, protein content, fat content, lean body mass, muscle weight, body fat ratio, waist hip ratio, body weight ratio, arm muscle circumference, arm circumference, quality of cells, BMI and basal metabolic rate in CD patients were significantly lower than those in control group(all P<0.05). Proportion of protein-deficiency patients and fat-deficiency patients were 66.7% and 47.4% respectively. Protein content, fat content, and lean body mass in ileocolic CD patients were lower than those with small bowel and colonic CD(all P<0.05). Protein content, fat content, lean body mass in patients with high disease activity index were lower than those in patients with low and medium index, but higher basal metablic rate was found in the former group(all P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONSThe human body composition in patients with CD are different from healthy people. Disease location and disease activity index have an impact on protein content, fat content, and lean body mass.