Association of nutritional status indices with gastrointestinal symptoms in systemic sclerosis: a cross-sectional study

Gastrointestinal (GI) involvement is highly prevalent in systemic sclerosis (SSc) and significantly affects patient quality of life and clinical outcomes. This study investigates the potential of undernutrition scores, namely the Control of Nutritional Status (CONUT) score and the Prognostic Nutrition Index (PNI), in predicting GI involvement in patients with SSc. A total of 82 patients diagnosed with SSc were enrolled in this cross-sectional study. Participants were evaluated using the UCLA Scleroderma Clinical Research Consortium Gastrointestinal Tract 2.0 (UCLA GIT 2.0) tool, which assesses the severity of GI symptoms and their impact on health-related quality of life. Malnutrition was assessed using CONUT and PNI scores derived from routine laboratory parameters. The correlation between these malnutrition indices and the UCLA GIT 2.0 scores was analyzed to determine the predictive value of malnutrition in GI involvement. The study found that patients with higher CONUT scores, indicating malnutrition, had significantly higher total UCLA GIT 2.0 scores. A moderate positive correlation was observed between CONUT scores and total UCLA GIT 2.0 scores (r =.539; p <.01), while a negative correlation was found between CONUT scores and PNI (r = -.513; p <.01). These findings suggest that malnutrition, as measured by CONUT and PNI, is associated with greater GI involvement in SSc. This study shows that malnutrition indices such as CONUT and PNI in SSc patients, together with the UCLA GIT 2.0 score, may serve as usefull predictors of GI involvment in routine clinical practice.