American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 25, 1140-1142, Copyright © 1972 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

The endocrine pancreas after kwashiorkor

¹ From the Department of Physiology, Makerere Medical School, P.O. Box 7072, Kampala, Uganda, East Africa

The maximal insulin response to oral glucose combined with intravenous tolbutamide and glucagon has been studied in a group of Baganda adolescents who had kwashiorkor in early childhood. There was no difference between these ex-patients and a control group with a similar ethnic and social background who had no history of malnutrition. These results indicate that it is unlikely that the pancreas is permanently damaged in children whose kwashiorkor has been treated. The incidental finding of elevated fasting concentrations of growth hormone together with reduced concentrations of fasting insulin in the ex-patients remains unexplained but may account for the delayed glucose disappearance reported by earlier workers.