Tients with Pulmonary TB. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054564.ginto treatment. One probable explanation for this is that appetite recovers first, and markers of nutritional status are slower indicators of improvement as TB is treated. We know of no previous He cell population spreads across the substrate can be calculated. A studies of PYY in TB. However, our results are consistent with previous work from our group in diarrheal disease as well as other studies demonstrating negative correlations between PYY and appetite [38,39]. Our findings also support the results of Moschovi et al, who demonstrated high PYY levels in acute leukemia with associated weight loss and found that PYY trended down with treatment and was inversely related to BMI [40]. We propose that abnormal PYY elevations in TB disease result in appetite suppression, which helps drive the wasting process. We found that Title Loaded From File leptin concentrations were decreased in TB patients and rose with treatment, were unrelated to cytokines but were strongly related to BF/BMI. This correlation between leptin and body mass confirms results of multiple prior studies [18?20,41] and is expected since leptin is produced in adipose tissue. These findings, combined with a lack of significant correlation between leptin and appetite, suggest that leptin reductions in TB are a reflection of wasting seen in TB disease, rather than a driving force behind appetite and nutritional dysregulation.We found that ghrelin in TB patients is elevated compared to controls, falls with treatment, 18325633 and correlates negatively with BMI and BF. Our findings conflict with the one prior study we found on ghrelin levels in TB, which reported no differences in baseline or post-treatment ghrelin concentrations in TB patients and reported lower ghrelin levels in malnourished cases compared to wellnourished cases [20]. Our results do agree with studies examining ghrelin in other pulmonary disorders, which found elevated ghrelin in malnourished patients with COPD and lung cancer [42,43]. While no other published studies have examined resistin in infections, our finding of elevated resistin in the disease state agreed with prior studies showing elevations in gastrointestinal cancers [23,44], direct correlations between resistin and cancer stage [23] and resistin and BMI loss [21]. In summary, our data show that patients with pulmonary TB display clear alterations in energy regulatory hormones in comparison to healthy controls, and these alterations coincide with changes in appetite and nutritional status. As altered hormone levels normalized during treatment, appetite and nutritional status also improved. PYY was the strongest predictor of appetite in these patients and high PYY was an indicator ofCachexia in TBpoor prognosis, with high levels predicting reduced gains in appetite and body fat during treatment. While previous studies have examined various combinations of energy-regulatory hormones in patients with TB, we are unaware of any studies which have evaluated PYY, leptin, ghrelin, and resistin in the same population, or any that have three longitudinal data points during treatment. This broad view provides valuable insight into the patterns of disrupted energy regulation and inflammation in TB. In addition, this was the first published study to examine PYY in TB and our results suggest this hormone is a key player in appetite and energy dysregulation in TB.Implications for Future ResearchAlterations in PYY secretion may be an important mechanism regulating appetite loss and wasting in TB. Futu.Tients with Pulmonary TB. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0054564.ginto treatment. One probable explanation for this is that appetite recovers first, and markers of nutritional status are slower indicators of improvement as TB is treated. We know of no previous studies of PYY in TB. However, our results are consistent with previous work from our group in diarrheal disease as well as other studies demonstrating negative correlations between PYY and appetite [38,39]. Our findings also support the results of Moschovi et al, who demonstrated high PYY levels in acute leukemia with associated weight loss and found that PYY trended down with treatment and was inversely related to BMI [40]. We propose that abnormal PYY elevations in TB disease result in appetite suppression, which helps drive the wasting process. We found that leptin concentrations were decreased in TB patients and rose with treatment, were unrelated to cytokines but were strongly related to BF/BMI. This correlation between leptin and body mass confirms results of multiple prior studies [18?20,41] and is expected since leptin is produced in adipose tissue. These findings, combined with a lack of significant correlation between leptin and appetite, suggest that leptin reductions in TB are a reflection of wasting seen in TB disease, rather than a driving force behind appetite and nutritional dysregulation.We found that ghrelin in TB patients is elevated compared to controls, falls with treatment, 18325633 and correlates negatively with BMI and BF. Our findings conflict with the one prior study we found on ghrelin levels in TB, which reported no differences in baseline or post-treatment ghrelin concentrations in TB patients and reported lower ghrelin levels in malnourished cases compared to wellnourished cases [20]. Our results do agree with studies examining ghrelin in other pulmonary disorders, which found elevated ghrelin in malnourished patients with COPD and lung cancer [42,43]. While no other published studies have examined resistin in infections, our finding of elevated resistin in the disease state agreed with prior studies showing elevations in gastrointestinal cancers [23,44], direct correlations between resistin and cancer stage [23] and resistin and BMI loss [21]. In summary, our data show that patients with pulmonary TB display clear alterations in energy regulatory hormones in comparison to healthy controls, and these alterations coincide with changes in appetite and nutritional status. As altered hormone levels normalized during treatment, appetite and nutritional status also improved. PYY was the strongest predictor of appetite in these patients and high PYY was an indicator ofCachexia in TBpoor prognosis, with high levels predicting reduced gains in appetite and body fat during treatment. While previous studies have examined various combinations of energy-regulatory hormones in patients with TB, we are unaware of any studies which have evaluated PYY, leptin, ghrelin, and resistin in the same population, or any that have three longitudinal data points during treatment. This broad view provides valuable insight into the patterns of disrupted energy regulation and inflammation in TB. In addition, this was the first published study to examine PYY in TB and our results suggest this hormone is a key player in appetite and energy dysregulation in TB.Implications for Future ResearchAlterations in PYY secretion may be an important mechanism regulating appetite loss and wasting in TB. Futu.