Levels of serum Cu, Fe and Zn along with serum total proteins and fractions in disease malnourished children of 4 - 12 years of age

ABSTRACT

This study was conducted to uncover the differences in the serum Cu, Fe, Zn and proteins in children of different degrees of malnutrition. For this purpose 85 malnourished and 15 normal children of school age [4-12 years] were chosen. Results revealed that serum Fe and Cu were significantly or relatively higher in malnourished than apparently healthy children irrespective of age, sex, socio-economic status or area of living. The levels of serum Zn, however, showed statistically non-significant differences between malnourished and apparently healthy children. Serum levels of total proteins and globulins were significantly or relatively lower in malnourished compared to the children of control group irrespective of age, sex, socio-economic status and area of living. The results of albumin were variable in these groups. While serum total proteins and globulins in male malnourished children were significantly lower compared to the male children of the control group, it was non-significantly different among females. The means of serum Cu, Zn and Fe in severely malnourished males and females were 48.61, 80.40; 50.00, 48.20; 227.15, 229.40 micro g/dL, respectively. These parameters in children of low and middle socio-economic status were 58.30, 90.00; 47.80, 58.67; 240.15, 148.00 micro g/dL, respectively while in severely malnourished children of three age groups [4-6, 7-9 and 10-12 years] were 38.25, 81.00, 71.55; 50.50, 46.66, 49.77; 224.88, 155.00, 279.78 micro g/dL, respectively. It can be concluded from the present study that serum Cu and Fe levels are increased, while serum total proteins and globulins are decreased in children of 4-12 years of age suffering from disease malnutrition