American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Vol 53, 1411-1417, Copyright © 1991 by The American Society for Clinical Nutrition, Inc

ORIGINAL RESEARCH COMMUNICATIONS

Nitrogen balance and protein turnover during the growth failure in newly born low-birth-weight infants

H Kandil, O Darwish, S Hammad, N Zagloul, D Halliday and J Millward
High Institute of Public Health, University of Alexandria, Egypt.

Weight gain, nitrogen balance, protein turnover, and energy and protein intakes were measured during the first week of life of 14 low-birth- weight (LBW) infants, 5 small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants and 9 appropriate-for-gestational-age (AGA) infants enterally fed at rates determined by the infants ability to assimilate feed. Mean gross intakes were 334 KJ and 1.75 g/kg protein; 4 infants were increasing and 10 were losing weight at rates proportional to gross energy and protein intakes and to nitrogen balance (0.031 g protein balance/g wt gain). Rates of protein synthesis and degradation measured by an intragastric infusion of [1-13C]leucine, averaged 14.5 and 15.9 g protein.kg-1.d-1, some 50% higher than previously reported in older preterm infants and not correlated with nitrogen balance. The growth failure of these infants was not associated with inadequate overall rates of protein turnover, but appeared to reflect an influence of the insufficient energy and protein intakes on the high rates of protein turnover, inducing changes in protein balance in either direction through relatively small changes in protein synthesis and/or degradation.

This article has been cited by other articles:

				O A F Bodamer and D Halliday Uses of stable isotopes in clinical diagnosis and research in the paediatric population Arch. Dis. Child., May 1, 2001; 84(5): 444 - 448. [Full Text]