Serum and Liver Vitamin A and Lipids in Children with Severe Protein Malnutrition

Abstract

The serum levels of total lipids, phospholipids, cholesterol, vitamin A and carotene were measured in children with kwashiorkor on admission to the hospital, and at regular intervals during the first weeks of recovery. Marked increases in all these serum constituents were observed, except for vitamin A in some of the children. Liver biopsy specimens were also studied for the same lipid constituents, except cholesterol. The data indicate that total lipids and vitamin A decrease in liver tissue simultaneously with an increase in these serum components. The findings are suggestive of an initial impairment in lipid and vitamin A blood transport possibly associated with decreases in the plasma protein fractions to which these lipid compounds are normally bound. Phospholipids differ in that they are apparently synthesized in the liver at a rate sufficient to prevent their decrease in hepatic tissue despite increased removal in the circulation.