ABSTRACT
To understand nutritional rickets in Bangladesh better, 14 rachitic and 13 'unaffected' children were evaluated. Seventy per cent of children with active rickets had no evidence of either vitamin D deficiency or familial rickets. Rickets in Bangladesh is probably related to calcium deficiency. Abnormalities in 'unaffected' children suggest that subclinical calcium insufficiency is common.
Subject(s)
Rickets/etiology , Bangladesh , Calcium/deficiency , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Male , Vitamin D DeficiencyABSTRACT
Using the immunoelectrophoretic method alpha-1-antitrypsin was detected in all but 6 of 26 samples of duodenal fluid obtained from 16 patients with various gastroenterological problems. The concentrations (mg/100 ml) of alpha-1-antitrypsin in duodenal aspirates from children with liver disease (7.32 plus or minus 6.1) were less than those from children with cystic fibrosis, Shwachman Diamond syndrome, or Hirschsprung's disease (16.7 plus or minus 11.9; p smaller than 0.02). Alpha-1-antitrypsin was detected in all but one of 6 samples of gallbladder bile, the exception being that from a patient with extrahepatic biliary atresia. No significant correlation was found between the alpha-1-antitrypsin concentration in the samples studied and the corresponding total antitrypsin activity.
