[Urinary excresion of indican during recovery from malnutrition].

Most indican excreted in the urine comes from the degradation of tryptophan through the action of microorganisms dwelling within the intestinal lumen. Based on this knowledge, the excretion of this compound was investigated during the recovery process of 19 malnourished infants; thus, attempts were made to recognize indirectly whether quantitative modifications take place in the intestinal flora as the state of nutrition is re-established. The results do not suggest the presence of an important variation of the bacterial content within the intestine of these children, at least during the first four weeks of their recovery.