Free amino acid levels of mother and child immediately after delivery in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The pattern of the free serum amino acids was analysed in 20 healthy mothers immediately after delivery and from their term appropriate for gestational age infants in cord blood. The free amino concentrations were higher in Tanzanian women, when compared to Swedish standards, whereas slightly higher or similar values were found in cord blood, resulting in a marked reduction of the fetal/maternal ratio for the individual amino acids. It is suggested that under 'basal nutritional conditions' the reduced placental gradient could be one of the compensatory mechanisms to facilitate an adequate supply of amino acids to the human fetus. The validity of the glycine/valine index to recognize early protein malnutrition in pregnant women and their offspring or in small for dates is disputed.