Lack of correlation between total lymphocyte count and nutritional status in the elderly

Malnutrition is a widespread but largely unrecognized problem in aged people. Although absolute total lymphocyte count (TLC) has been proposed as a useful indicator of nutritional status, there is little evidence that low TLC levels reflect malnutrition in the elderly. To examine whether TLC is a suitable marker of malnutrition in the elderly.

A total of 161 elderly subjects (44 males and 117 females, mean age+/-SD: 77.9+/-7.4; range: 65-95 years) were enrolled from geriatric clinical settings. The participants were categorized according to severely low, low, or normal TLC. Anthropometry measurements, serum albumin, total cholesterol levels, and total score on the mini-nutritional assessment (MNA) were determined.

There were no significant differences among the three TLC groups with regard to anthropometry measurements, serum albumin, total cholesterol levels, or MNA score. There was a significant negative correlation of TLC with age, but not with other nutritional markers. The clinical nutritional screening tool, MNA score, was well correlated with all of the nutritional parameters used in the present study except for TLC.

TLC is not a suitable marker of malnutrition in the elderly.