AJCN North Carolina Research Campus
HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


     

This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Purchase Article
Right arrow View Shopping Cart
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zaklama, M. S.
Right arrow Articles by Patwardhan, V. N.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Zaklama, M. S.
Right arrow Articles by Patwardhan, V. N.
Agricola
Right arrow Articles by Zaklama, M. S.
Right arrow Articles by Patwardhan, V. N.

American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 25, 412-418, Copyright © 1972 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Liver vitamin A in protein-calorie malnutrition

Mona S. Zaklama M.Sc.1, Mamdouh K. Gabr M.D.1, Safinaz El Maraghy M.D.1, and Vinayak N. Patwardhan Ph.D.1

1 From the United States Naval Medical Research Unit No. 3, Cairo, Egypt, the Department of Pediatrics, Cairo University Medical Faculty, Cairo, Egypt, and the Division of Nutrition, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, Tennessee

1) Vitamin A has been determined in liver biopsies obtained from 14 cases of kwashiorkor, 7 cases of nutritional marasmus, and 5 cases of marasmic kwashiorkor soon after admission to the hospital. Retinyl ester and retinol fractions were separately estimated after chromatography on activated alumina.

2) The concentration of liver vitamin A in PCM varied between 2 and 140 µg/g; the average value was 43 µg/g. There was no significant difference in the average vitamin A content per gram liver between kwashiorkor, marasmus, and marasmic kwashiorkor.

3) Free retinol (A) in kwashiorkor livers varied a great deal in relation to total vitamin A (T) and the percent A/T values ranged from 0 to 96 with an average of 31. On the other hand, in marasmus and marasmic kwashiorkor the A/T values did not exceed 10%. This difference was observed irrespective of the concentration of total vitamin A in liver.

4) Weanling albino rats were placed on vitamin A-free diets containing 3 and 18% casein. One-half of the rats in each group received 5 µg vitamin A/rat per day as an oral supplement and the other half received 50 µg/rat per day. Rats were killed in the 8th week of feeding and retinyl ester and retinol fractions in liver were determined. Experimentally induced protein deficiency by itself did not influence the relation between total vitamin A and free retinol. Only when the rat livers were severely depleted of vitamin A (4 µg/g and less) was this relationship disturbed and the deficiency or adequacy of dietary protein was without influence. fluence.

5) The significance of these findings is discussed. It is concluded that some unknown factor(s) may be responsible for the differences in the pattern of vitamin A storage seen in kwashiorkor on the one hand and marasmus on the other.






HOME HELP FEEDBACK SUBSCRIPTIONS ARCHIVE SEARCH TABLE OF CONTENTS
Copyright © 1972 by The American Society for Nutrition