Abstract
In 13 patients with marasmus or kwashiorkor, plasma SM was measured using the porcine costal cartilage assay. Non-parallelism (N.P.) due to a shallow slope prevented quantitation in many samples. Results: SM-distriSution: on admission ≤ .20:5; .20 < x < .50:3; .50 < x < .80:2, N.P.:3. After 4-6 weeks of treatment: low : 6, normal: 1, N.P. : 3 (3 had died, all with initial SM < .20). After 8-10 weeks: low: 3, normal or high : 3, N.P. : 3 (one more child had died). Mixing plasma from 3 untreated patients with the standard lowered its apparent potency with 35, 67 and 0% resp. Heating plasma after acidification increased its potency relative to a standard control from < .12 to .65. Concl.: In severe and chronic malnutrition heat-labile SM-inhibiting material is present in plasma, initially persisting during treatment. This may contribute to the problems in reverting these children from a katabolic to an anabolic state.
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Van Den Brande, J., Heinrich, U., Du Caju, M. et al. OBSERVATIONS ON A SOMATOMEDIN (SM) INHIBITOR IN SEVERELY MALNOURISHED CHILDREN. Pediatr Res 9, 683 (1975). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00097
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-197508000-00097