Author(s)

Mame Saloum Coly^1*, Mouhamadou Mansour Diagne², Jean Fidele Nnang Essone³, Abdou Khadir Sow², Salimata Diagne Houndjo², Maimouna Toure², Aïssatou Seck², Awa Ba⁴, Abdoulaye Ba², Abdoulaye Samb², Moussa Seck⁵, Saliou Diop⁵, Mor Diaw², Fatou Bintou Sar¹, Arame Mbengue¹

¹Laboratory of Physiology and Functional Explorations, UFR of Health Sciences, Iba Der Thiam University, Thies, Senegal.
²Laboratory of Physiology and Functional Explorations, FMPO, Cheikh Anta DIOP University, Dakar, Senegal.
³Department of Fundamental Sciences, FMSS/USS, Libreville, Gabon.
⁴Laboratory of Physiology, UFR of Health, Alioune DIOP University, Bambey, Senegal.
⁵National Center of Blood Transfusion, Dakar, Senegal.

Introduction: Previous studies in sickle cell disease (SCD) patients have demonstrated low muscle mass (MM) and high fat mass (FM) percentages compared to individuals with normal hemoglobin. The relationship between the evolutions of body composition (BC) parameters in the active SCD population is not well elucidated. The aim of the present study was to assess the body composition in active adult SCD patients in sub-Saharan Africa during the inter-critical period. Methodology: We conducted a descriptive and analytical cross-sectional study over an 8-month period. Eighteen SCD patients (sex ratio = 1) reported regular physical activity (RPA) corresponding to level 3 (RPA of moderate intensity) of the 4-level Saltin-Grimby physical activity scale were recruited. Anthropometric and BC parameters such as BMI, percentage FM and percentage MM were evaluated using an impedance meter. Results: The study population had a mean age of 26 ± 7 years and a mean BMI of 20.5 ± 1.9 kg/m². We found a significantly higher percentage of FM in women compared to the men (25.6% ± 10.2% vs 11.1% ± 2.1%; p = 0.001). For the proportion of MM, all the women had a normal percentage. The men mostly had high levels of MM compared with reference norms. Men had significantly greater MM percentages than women (45.4% ± 1.8% vs. 26.5% ± 1.4%; p < 0.0001). A positive correlation was noted between FM and age (p = 0.007; r = 0.6) and a negative correlation was found between FM and MM (p = 0.001; r = −0.7). Conclusion: RPA appears to have positive effects on BC in active population with SCD, and a greater-than-expected effect was observed on MM in male patients. Promoting regular, adapted physical activity would be a promising way of improving BC parameters and quality of life in the SCD population. Further studies with larger cohorts will be needed to better substantiate these results.

Sickle Cell Disease, Body Composition, Physical Activity

Coly, M. , Diagne, M. , Essone, J. , Sow, A. , Houndjo, S. , Toure, M. , Seck, A. , Ba, A. , Ba, A. , Samb, A. , Seck, M. , Diop, S. , Diaw, M. , Sar, F. and Mbengue, A. (2024) Body Composition in Sickle Cell Disease Patients in the Steady State. Open Journal of Molecular and Integrative Physiology, 14, 31-38. doi: 10.4236/ojmip.2024.142002.