Antibiotic Dietary Supplements in the Therapy of Childhood Protein Mainutrition

Abstract
Summary Ten children with protein malnutrition, including several cases of kwashiorkor, were treated with 25 mg. chlortetracycline or oxytetracycline daily for two months. The clinical course of these children was compared with the response of a similar series of cases treated according to conventional methods only. The cases receiving antibiotic in these small doses showed a more rapid and more extensive rise in the blood hemoglobin and plasma albumin levels. A further rise in the average plasma globulin levels did not occur and in the children given antibiotic, when the level was above normal, it declined during the period of therapy. The rate of recovery in the antibiotic treated cases seemed to be more rapid and there were no deaths despite the fact that several of the cases had very low plasma albumin levels and marked fatty infiltration of the liver. The practical and theoretical aspects of the use of small doses of antibiotic as nutritional supplements in the treatment of protein malnutrition are discussed.

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