title: Effects of kwashiorkor malnutrition on measured capillary filtration rate in forearm.
abstract: This study investigated the effects of kwashiorkor malnutrition on blood tissue fluid exchange by measuring the rate of capillary filtration (CFR) in response to a 60-mmHg increment in venous pressure in the forearms of 1- to 3-yr-old native African children within the Transkei Homeland. They were divided into the following subject groups: kwashiorkor patients (K); kwashiorkor patients who were at various stages of recovery (RK); marasmus patients (M); patients with edema of nonkwashiorkor origin (E); and control children (C). Measurements of CFR were significantly lower in the K subjects compared with any of the other groups (P less than 0.05), whereas, the RK, M, E, and C subjects were not significantly different from each other. This latter finding indicates that the lower CFR of the K patients is reversible and is not due to malnutrition or edema per se. Measurements of forearm cutaneous blood flow by laser Doppler flowmetry (LDF) in C and K subjects showed only a slightly lower value for the K patients (P greater than 0.20), and there was no relationship between CFR and LDF for either group (r = 0.073). These results suggest that the lower CFR of the K patients is not secondary to peripheral vasoconstriction.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington 40536.
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Richardson
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Iputo
mesh_terms: D000886:Anthropometry; D001794:Blood Pressure; D002199:Capillary Permeability; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004487:Edema / Q000503:physiopathology; D005260:Female; D005542:Forearm / Q000098:blood supply*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007732:Kwashiorkor / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008297:Male; D011502:Protein-Energy Malnutrition / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D012016:Reference Values; D012039:Regional Blood Flow; D012867:Skin / Q000098:blood supply; D014463:Ultrasonography