Mubarak's health suffered a "severe deterioration" on Tuesday, the official news agency reports.

Citing sources in Tora prison, it said Mubarak's health deteriorated after a family visit on Monday that included his wife and wives of his two sons. The sons are detained pending trial in a case involving alleged share-price manipulation.

Mubarak is being held in the prison hospital, after he had been held a military hospital during his 10-month trial. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on Saturday for his role in killing protesters who rose up against him.

The agency said "the severe deterioration in the former president's condition" prompted prison staff to bring in an interior ministry medical team. He was given sedatives and placed under observation, it added.

It said the family visit, the first since his sentencing, caused him to suffer from depression, prompting him to stop eating. [Reuters]