Urinary retinol excretion in children with acute watery diarrhoea
Mitra, A.K.; Wahed, M.A.; Chowdhury, A.K.; Stephensen, C.B.
Journal of Health Population and Nutrition 20(1): 12-17
2002
ISSN/ISBN: 1606-0997 PMID: 12022153 DOI: 10.2307/23498718Document Number: 243679
Children with diarrhoea due to rotavirus infection excrete retinol in urine. This study aimed at demonstrating the extent and mechanism of urinary retinol excretion in children with acute watery diarrhoea caused by pathogens other than rotavirus. Thirty-two children, aged five months to five years, hospitalized with watery diarrhoea predominantly due to enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli during May-December 1995 in Bangladesh, were studied. Their serum retinol and retinol-binding protein (RBP) were low at admission and increased significantly after recovery from illness. The mean hospital stay of these patients was four days. Forty-seven percent of the children excreted retinol in urine on day one, and about 38% continued excreting retinol on day 3. The estimated urinary retinol loss of 3.44 micro mol for the illness episode represented more than 40% of liver retinol reserve (8.25 micro mol) in malnourished children. A conservative estimate of the loss would represent at least 20% of the liver reserve in relatively better-nourished children. Kidney tubular dysfunctions of increased RBP excretion significantly predicted urinary retinol excretion in children with watery diarrhoea.