Blood and urine samples from 252 Sudanese children were investigated for their aflatoxin content by high-performance liquid chromatography. The children comprised 44 with kwashiorkor, 32 with marasmic kwashiorkor, 70 with marasmus, and 106 age-matched, normally nourished controls. Aflatoxins were detected more often and at higher concentrations in sera from children with kwashiorkor than in the...

Calmodulin-free ghost membranes were prepared from erythrocytes of kwashiorkor children and from healthy children in the same age bracket. In the absence of calmodulin, the specific activity of MgZ+-dependent Ca2+-pumping ATPase (Ca2++ Mg2+-ATPase) of kwashiorkor membranes was more than 40 percent lower than the specific activity of the normal enzymes, whose maximum velocity was increased by at...

Prinsloo, J. G., de Bruin, E. J. P., and Kruger, H. (1971). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 46, 795. Comparison of intravenous glucose tolerance tests and serum insulin levels in kwashiorkor and pellagra. Intravenous glucose tolerance tests and serum insulin responses were estimated on admission to hospital as well as after recovery in 16 kwashiorkor and 15 pellagra children. Only the kwashio...

BACKGROUND Kwashiorkor, a form of severe malnutrition with high mortality, is characterized by edema and systemic abnormalities. Although extremely common, its pathophysiology remains poorly understood, and its characteristic physical signs are unexplained. OBJECTIVE Because kwashiorkor can develop in protein-losing enteropathy, which is caused by a loss of enterocyte heparan sulfate proteogl...

The two clinical syndromes of protein-calorie malnutrition-kwashiorkor and marasmus, have been widely studied. Striking differences have been observed between kwashiorkor and marasmus, both with respect to the clinical picture and the biochemical profile. One such difference is the exaggerated hyperglycaemic response of the marasmic infant to epinephrine in contrast to the poor response of the ...

Masawe, A. E. J., and Rwabwogo-Atenyi, J. (1973). Archives of Disease in Childhood, 48, 927. Serum protein and transferrin determinations to distinguish kwashiorkor from iron deficiency anaemia. Serum proteins and serum transferrin levels were studied in 38 African children of whom 10 were normal controls, 18 had severe iron deficiency anaemia, and 10 had kwashiorkor. The results showed that th...

The plasma triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) ratios have been evaluated in kwashiorkor and diet-induced obese weaned rats. The concentrations of T3 and T4 were determined in plasma by radio-immunoassay. A significant decrease in T3 level in the order kwashiorkor < obese < control was observed. However T4 concentration was more elevated (P < 0.01) in the obese than the normal controls, wh...

Twenty four patients of classical marasmus and kwashiorkor along with equal number of healthy controls were selected for the study. Their serum amino acid patterns analysis revealed a mean ratio of glutamate to alanine in fasting samples of normal individuals to be 0.33, while it as 9.3 in kwashiorkor and 1.6 in marasmus. This differences in controls, kwashiorkor and marasmus was statistically ...

Serum lipid levels were determined in 30 children with kwashiorkor and in 30 healthy children of comparable age. The serum concentrations of unesterified and esterified cholesterol, albumin and the cholesterol esterifying activity (CEA) were also measured in children with kwashiorkor before treatment and after recovery. All serum lipid fractions were significantly lower in kwashiorkor than in t...