Postnatal Changes in the Blood Serum Content of Glycerol and Free Fatty Acids in Premature Infants

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Abstract
After birth the level of glycerol in the blood rises rapidly and to higher values in prematures than in full-term infants. The level of FFA [free fatty acids] in the blood rises more slowly in the former and only 24 hr. after delivery it is higher in prematures than in full-term infants. The ratio of glycerol: FFA in the 1st post-natal hour in premature infants is 1:1.5 and 1:4 in full-term newly borns. Forty-eight hours after birth this ratio is 1:8 in both groups. In hypothermic prematures and those with RD [respiratory diseases] the glycerol level was highest. The glycerol: FFA ratio between 1:1 to 1:4 was maintained for a longer time than normally in all groups of prematurely born infants, and longest in hypothermic prematures with R.D.