Objective: To study energy balance (EB) in patients with Huntington’s disease (HD) and compare it with healthy controls; to study the impact of EB on functional capacity, non-motor symptoms and psychiatric and cognitive manifestation. 

Background: Total energy expenditure (TEE) is the amount of daily energy required by the body, and one of the ways to calculate it is by the sum of several components: resting energy (REE; 60-80%) + physical activity (PA; 20-40%) + diet-induced thermogenesis (7-10%) [1,2]. Although it is true, there is not much information on energy requirements in HD as well as on the relationship between energy balance and HD symptoms [table 1].

Method: Observational, case-control study. REE was measured by indirect calorimetry (IC), PA was monitored by an actigraph and caloric energy intake (EI) was assessed by the SUN questionnaire and a 3-day recall. Non-motor symptoms and functional capacity were measured by different questionnaires.

Results: A total of 29 persons were included: 19 cases (55% female, mean age 57 (31-68), 85% symptomatic) and 10 controls (60% female, mean age 56 (29-65)).

Conclusion: Since patients tend to reduce their PA voluntarily, it is estimated that they have lower energy expenditure.

References: [1] Pinheiro Volp AC, Esteves de Oliveira FC, Duarte Moreira Alves R, Esteves EA, Bressan J. Energy expenditure: components and evaluation methods. Nutr Hops, 26, 430-4 (2011).
[2] Pratley RE, Salbe AD, Ravussin E, Caviness JN. Higher sedentary energy expenditure in
patients with Huntington’s disease. Ann Neurol, 47, 64–70 (2000).

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MDS Abstracts - https://www.mdsabstracts.org/abstract/how-much-do-motor-and-non-motor-symptoms-of-huntingtons-disease-influence-energy-balance-behd-em-pilot-study/