The effects of undernutrition on the respiratory muscles.

During prolonged undernutrition, the mass of skeletal muscle represents the body's main store of protein and energy. Although it is known that cardiac striated muscle is relatively spared in undernutrition, and that disease-induced reductions in lean body mass do not spare respiratory muscle, the effects of undernutrition per se on the structure and function of the respiratory muscle are largely unstudied in humans. Available data are reviewed.