ALBUMIN METABOLISM IN CHILDREN WITH PROTEIN MALNUTRITION1

Abstract

(Group I), while the other 11 children showed definite edema (Group II). Well-developed pellagroid skin lesions of the type seen in protein malnutrition were present in each of the 11 edematous children, but only small atrophic lesions were noted in the other three. Microscopic examination of feces revealed G. lamblia infestation in two children, L. B. F. and R. E. J. Patient J. M. J. died during the study, and postmortem examination revealed, among other things, the presence of bronchopneumonia. Method of study. Each child was given five drops of Lugol's solution three times a day during the study. Within 48 hours of admission, I~-labeled human serum albumin was injected intravenously, and the disappearance of radioactivity from the serum was followed for about three weeks (Period A, Table I) in all patients except J. M. J., who died eight days after the start of the study. After an additional interval of three to four weeks, eight children were given a second injection of radioiodinated albumin, and its disappearance was again followed for