Chattopadhya D, Saha K, Chakrabarty A K, Rao K N, Patil S K, Sharma A, Dusaj I S
Microbiology Division, National Institute of Communicable Diseases, Delhi, India.
Eur J Clin Nutr. 1992 Dec;46(12):885-95.
Measurements of nutritionally relevant biochemical and endocrine variables were made on 60 apparently healthy children (group A) whose parents suffered from leprosy and who had been separated at the age of 4 years and brought up in preventoria. Most of the measurements were also made on a comparison group of healthy children from the same poor socio-economic class (group B). In both groups the serum concentrations of cholesterol and triglycerides were well below those found in Western populations. Almost all the children in both groups were anaemic, but serum iron and ferritin levels were satisfactory. Folate and vitamin B12 levels were measured in group A only and were low in a significant proportion. Deficiency of these water-soluble vitamins may be a cause of the anaemia. Low albumin levels were found in 40% of group A children, compared with 2% in group B. The concentrations of calcium and magnesium were lower and that of phosphate higher in group A than in B. In both groups one-third of the children had low levels of serum zinc. Fifteen per cent of group A children had biochemical evidence of vitamin A deficiency, but none were deficient in vitamin E. Levels of total T3 and total T4 were below the lower limit of normal in a substantial proportion of children in both groups. Concentrations of parathyroid hormone were increased in parallel with the low values for serum calcium. Radiological studies of ossification centres in 57 group A children showed delayed maturation in 11 cases. The relevance of these findings to previous studies of the children of lepers in India is discussed.
对60名明显健康的儿童（A组）进行了与营养相关的生化和内分泌变量测量。这些儿童的父母患有麻风病，他们在4岁时与父母分离，并在教养所长大。大多数测量也在来自相同贫困社会经济阶层的健康儿童对照组（B组）中进行。两组儿童的血清胆固醇和甘油三酯浓度均远低于西方人群。两组中几乎所有儿童都贫血，但血清铁和铁蛋白水平令人满意。仅在A组中测量了叶酸和维生素B12水平，相当比例的儿童水平较低。这些水溶性维生素的缺乏可能是贫血的一个原因。A组40%的儿童白蛋白水平较低，而B组为2%。A组儿童的钙和镁浓度较低，磷浓度较高。两组中三分之一的儿童血清锌水平较低。A组15%的儿童有维生素A缺乏的生化证据，但没有维生素E缺乏的情况。两组中相当比例的儿童总T3和总T4水平低于正常下限。甲状旁腺激素浓度随着血清钙的低值而升高。对57名A组儿童的骨化中心进行的放射学研究显示，11例成熟延迟。讨论了这些发现与印度之前对麻风病人子女研究的相关性。
