Protein-Energy Malnutrition is common among patients with chronic kidney failure, thus increasing morbidity and mortality. Several studies have shown that metabolic acidosis is a major cause of muscle protein breakdown, and recently it was attributed to ATP-dependent ubiquitin-proteasome proteolytic pathway. Acidosis, plus glucocorticoids, also respond to increasing branched-chain amino acids oxidation. In this review, the impact of metabolic acidosis on protein and amino acid metabolism is examined in order to understand its effect on lean body mass and the nutritional status of patients with chronic kidney failure. The study also observes whether or not sodium bicarbonate supplementation is beneficial to chronic kidney failure patients. In summary, there is a preliminary evidence suggesting that the correction of acidosis using sodium bicarbonate reduces protein degradation in chronic kidney failure patients, thus emerging as a potential therapy for reducing protein-energy malnutrition among them.
kidney failure chronic; protein catabolism; acidosis; sodium bicarbonate; protein-energy mulnutrition