American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 21, 1285-1290, Copyright © 1968 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Disturbances of Carbohydrate Metabolism in Infantile Marasmus

¹ From the Pediatric Research Laboratory, Pediatrics Department, Hospital Manuel Arriarán, Universidad de Chile, Santiago, Chile

Infants with marasmic malnutrition frequently have hypoglycemia and diminished glucose tolerance when subjected to an intravenous glucose load test. To establish the nature of this disturbance, the glucose assimilation rate was studied in a group of marasmic infants, and at the same time some metabolic products of carbohydrate metabolism such as pyruvic, lactic, and alpha-ketoglutaric acids were analyzed. Fasting values of pyruvic and lactic acid were significantly higher than the control group, and the degradation constant of glucose was significantly lower.

In normal infants, after the administration of glucose there was a rise in pyruvic and lactic acids; however, in marasmic infants the response was different. These results are discussed, and a probably partial blockage in the anaerobic phase of glucose metabolism, which could affect both gluconeogenesis and glycolysis, has been suggested.