Abstract
Two of the clinical features of the malnutritional state seen in tropical children and known as kwashiorkor are the marked increase of fat in the liver and the presence of depot fat in usual amounts. As the diet leading to this condition is poor in protein and fat, and contains relatively large amounts of carbohydrate, it was hoped that a study of the composition of the liver lipid might lead to a clearer understanding of the origin of this lipid. Earlier work1 on the phospholipid, non-saponifiable and fatty acid fractions of the liver lipid in kwashiorkor showed that their proportions and degree of unsaturation were not the same as in excess liver lipid found in children who were apparently well nourished but suffering from other diseases.
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References
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Moore, C. H., and Cook, R. P., Biochem. J., 73, 43, P (1959).
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BAKER, R., MACDONALD, I. Liver and Depot Fatty Acids in Kwashiorkor. Nature 189, 406–407 (1961). https://doi.org/10.1038/189406a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/189406a0
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