Total energy expenditure and physical activity measured with the bicarbonate-urea method in patients with human immunodeficiency virus infection

1. Our objectives were to measure total energy expenditure, the daily variation in total energy expenditure and the physical activity level in a group of HIV-positive subjects using the bicarbonate-urea method. The study also aimed to assess the practicalities of using the bicarbonate-urea technique in free-living conditions. 2. Total energy expenditure was measured with the bicarbonate-urea method over 2 consecutive days (1 day in one subject) in 10 male patients with HIV infection (median CD4 count=30). Resting energy expenditure was measured by indirect calorimetry. Physical activity level (total energy expenditure/resting energy expenditure) was calculated from these measurements and from activity diaries. 3. Resting energy expenditure was found to be 7.46+/-0.87 MJ/day, 5% higher than predicted values. Total energy expenditure was 10.69+/-1.95 MJ/day with an intra-individual day-to-day variation of 6+/-6%. The measured physical activity level was 1.42+/-0.14, higher than the diary estimate of 1.34+/-0.16 (P=0.029), and there were large intermethod differences in individual values. The subcutaneous infusion of bicarbonate was well tolerated and did not seem to restrict normal activities. 4. Total energy expenditure was not elevated in the group of HIV-positive subjects when compared with reference values for normal subjects. The physical activity level of the patients in this study was lower than that measured using other techniques in healthy young men, but was compatible with that expected for people leading a sedentary lifestyle. Reductions in physical activity in patients with HIV are likely to contribute to the wasting process and physical activity level may thus be a clinically useful measure. This study has also provided the first tracer estimate of the day-to-day variation in total energy expenditure. The bicarbonate-urea method represents an important new investigative tool for measuring total energy expenditure which has previously only been possible within the confines of a whole-body calorimeter or using the expensive doubly labelled water method.