Abstract
Free carnitine excretion in urine was measured in 86 healthy children aged 1 day to 10 years in order to establish a pattern during development.In 30 of these cases the data were subdivided into day/ night period.Nine children were also followed over 3 consecutive days.The radiochemical method of Cederblad and Lindstedt was used for free carnitine determination.All data were statistically analized using the Mann-Whitney test.Excretion of free carnitine per 24 hrs is low in the first three years of life (15.5±1.8 S.E. μmoles) and in the age group from 3 to 10 years (115.3±11.4) in comparison with 29 adults (216.9±20.6) (p<0.05).These findings could be related to a lower tissue concentration of carnitine and/or to a smaller muscle mass.On the other hand,excretion per Kg body weight/24 hrs is highest (5.1±0.4 S.E. μmoles) in the age group from 3 to 10 years in comparison with the age group from birth to 3 years (2.1±0.0) and adults (3.1±0.0).We emphasize that in malnutrition,inborn errors of carnitine metabolism or muscular dystrophy, the carnitine excretion should also be expressed per Kg body weight/24 hrs.Unlike other A. neither a day/night differentiation in carnitine excretion nor a wide variation in the same subjects in the course of successive days was found.
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Donzelli, F., Battistella, P., Vergani, L. et al. Free carnitine urinary excretion during childhood. Pediatr Res 14, 1425 (1980). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198012000-00102
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198012000-00102