Orzechowski A, del Rio C, Tellez I; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1992 Jul 19-24; 8: 115 (abstract no. PuB 7397).
Infectious Disease Section, Hospital Angeles del Pedregal, Mexico DF.
INTRODUCTION AND OBJECTIVE: Megestrol acetate (megace) in a synthetic orally active progesterone used in the treatment of mammary carcinoma. One of its side effects is an increase in appetite which is followed by weight gain. Recent data suggests that in patients with AIDS this drug also causes significant weight gain with an improvement in the sense of well being, this increase in weight is dose dependent and a dose of 120 mg TID has been suggested as ideal. In Mexico wasting syndrome is common in patients with AIDS and weight loss is hard to manage, however the high cost of Megace makes the use of 360 mg/d unaffordable to most patients. We performed a prospective open study to determine if low dose Megace is useful as a means of improving weight in patients with AIDS in Mexico. METHODS: Ten patients with AIDS (CDC stage IV) who had lost more than 10% of body weight were studied. Patients were given Megace 40 mg TID for 12 weeks, all patients were also taking Zidovudine. RESULTS: The mean weight when the patients were first seen was 62.1 kg. (range = 53.5 to 82.5 kg) and after treatment with AZT the maximum weight attained was 64.3 kg (range = 53.3 to 83 kg; p = 0.02). When Megace was begun patients had dropped to a average weight of 61.3 kg (range = 53 to 82 kg). After 12 weeks of therapy with 120 mg/d of Megace the mean maximum weight was 63.9 kg (range = 56 to 84 kg; p = 0.002). Nine of 10 patients gained weigh with an average weight gain of 2.7 kg. All patients reported that the increase in appetite gave them a sense of well being. No patient had significant side effects from the drug. CONCLUSIONS: Low dose Megace was useful as a way to increase weight and well being in our patients. Further studies are needed to determine the ideal dose in developing countries.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Acquired Immunodeficiency Syndrome
- Appetite
- Appetite Stimulants
- Body Weight
- Humans
- Megestrol Acetate
- Mexico
- Nutritional Status
- Prospective Studies
- Wasting Syndrome
- Weight Gain
- Weight Loss
- therapy
Other ID:
UI: 102201167
From Meeting Abstracts