Study of serum insulin-like growth factor-I, prealbumin and procollagen type III peptide in children with protein energy malnutrition

ABSTRACT

This study was done to estimate the value of determination of serum concentrations of albumin, prealbumin, insulin-like growth factor-I [IGF-I] and procollagen 111 peptide [PIIINP] as early predictors of protein energy malnutrition [PEM] in children as well as to demonstrate the effect of nutritional rehabilitation therapy on these parameters. This work was carried out on 60 infants and children suffering from PEM. Their age ranged from 6 months to 3 years. They were classified into four groups according to Welcome classification of PEM; group I included 15 underweight infants and children, group I/ included 15 infants and children with marasmus, group III included 15 infants and children with kwashiorkor and group IV included 15 infants and children with marasmus-kwashiorkor. Another 30 normal healthy infants and children of matching age and sex served as a control group. All patients and control groups were subjected to a careful history taking, thorough clinical examination, anthropometric measurements including; weight, length, head circumference, mid-upper arm circumference [MUAC] and skin fold thickness [SFT] as well as laboratory investigations including complete blood picture, serum albumin, serum prealbumin, serum IGF-I, and serum PIIINP. All these laboratory investigations were repeated after 6 weeks of nutritional rehabilitation therapy in the form of a diet providing 4 gm proteins/kg/day and 150 cal./kg/day