HYDROLYZED LACTALBUMIN-BASED ORAL REHYDRATION SOLUTION FOR ACUTE DIARRHEA IN INFANTS

The addition of different organic substrates to standard glucose oral rehydration solution (G-ORS) has been shown to improve the intestinal absorption of sodium and water, and thereby decrease stool losses. The refore, we evaluated, in infants with acute diarrhoea, the safety and efficacy of three oral rehydration solutions (ORS) which had the same concentrations of electrolytes (with sodium 60 mmol/l) but different s ubstrates of proteins and carbohydrates. One solution (LAD-ORS) contai ned hydrolyzed lactalbumin (LAD) with maltodextrin and sucrose, a seco nd (MS-ORS) was identical but without LAD and a third (G-ORS) was stan dard glucose ORS. The three solutions were compared in a double-blind, randomized trial in 74 hospitalized well-nourished children in Panama and the United States. All three oral rehydration solutions were equa lly efficacious and safe in these children, 54% of whom were infected with rotavirus. There was no suggestion that hydrolyzed lactalbumin or maltodextrin provided any advantage over glucose-ORS in terms of stoo l output or in duration of diarrhoea. We conclude that all three solut ions are efficacious in the therapy of acute diarrhoea in infants.