Megestrol acetate in a moderate dose for the treatment of malnutrition-inflammation complex in maintenance dialysis patients.

Background: Malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome and anorexia, common conditions in maintenance dialysis patients, are strongly associated with higher mortality and hospitalization and lower quality of life (QoL) in this population. Megestrol acetate, 800 mg/day, has been shown to increase appetite and food intake and to mitigate inflammation in cachectic AIDS and cancer patients, leading to weight gain, but it is also associated with side effects at this dose.

Methods: We evaluated the efficacy of the oral solution of megestrol acetate in half of its conventional dose in improving the nutritional state and inflammation in 10 hypoalbuminemic dialysis patients (albumin < 3.

Kidney insufficiency and nutrient-based modulation of inflammation.

Purpose Of Review: Patients with chronic kidney disease have a high cardiovascular mortality rate. Despite recent advances in dialysis techniques, over 20% of US dialysis patients die every year. Protein-energy malnutrition and inflammation are common and usually concurrent in chronic kidney disease patients, and have been implicated as the main cause of high mortality.