Urinary excretion of nitrogen containing metabolites of former hypotrophicinfants

Introduction: About 25 to 30% of the children with former intrauterine grow th retardation (IUGR) fail to show a catch up growth during further develop ment. We were interested in the degree of utilisation of oral protein in th ese children. Methods: We investigated the urinary excretion of total nitrogen, urea, alp ha-amino-N and ammonia in 73 former IUGR infants with a mean age of 2.1 yea rs,The mean body weight of the infants was 8.36 kg according to a mean SDS for weighs of -3.02. Results: The total N-excretion of 20.8 mmol/kg/24 h of the former hypotroph ic infants was nearly twice as much than in the control group consisting of 37 normal weight former eutrophic infants showing a N-excretion of 10.6 mm ol/kg/24 h. These data clearly demonstrate a diminished protein utilisation of dystrophic infants with former IUGR even at an age of 2 years. Conclusion: Enrichment of the diet with protein would not have a favourable influence on the further development of these children.