American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 27, 1386-1389, Copyright © 1974 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc.

Gastrointestinal protein loss in hookworm and roundworm infections

¹ From The Human Nutrition Unit, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, Ansari Nagar, New Delhi-110016, India

Gastrointestinal protein loss was studied using ⁵¹Cr-albumin in 11 patients having mild hookworm and/or roundworm infection. Of these, 7 had pure hookworm infection and 4 had combined hookworm and roundworm infection. Protein loss was normal in all patients except one in whom it was slightly increased. It is concluded that at the low levels of infection prevalent in a community mild hookworm and mild roundworm infections at the stage of infection examined do not produce excessive gastrointestinal protein loss. Further studies in areas with heavy roundworm infection are suggested.