Iodine Number of Serum Fatty Acids in Acute Infections of Infants With and Without Eczema

Abstract

The changes which take place in the cholesterol content of the serum during the acute infections occurring in the infants observed in the preceding paper are accompanied by a fall in the plasma total fatty acids. The serum unsaturated fatty acids have already been found to be replaced in part by more and more saturated acids during acute respiratory infections in older children. In infants the observation has been made that eczema is associated with an abnormally low serum content of unsaturated fatty acids but no study has been recorded of the influence of acute infection on the unsaturation of the serum fatty acids. This paper presents the observation made in 14 infants with acute illnesses. They are the same babies which were chosen for the cholesterol study. All blood samples obtained during and after the height of each infection were drawn between 12 and 16 hours after a meal. The first blood sample was collected as soon as possible after the infant was admitted to the hospital at the height of the disease and the second blood sample after the seventh day of convalescence. Bloor's methods were followed to determine the blood lipids. The Rosenmund-Kuhnhenn method as modified by Page, Pasternak and Burt was used to determine the iodine absorption of the serum fatty acids. The fall in plasma total fatty acids which takes place during the height of acute infections in infants is paralleled by a drop in the iodine absorption values. This signifies that in most instances the iodine number of serum fatty acids is definitely lower in the febrile period of the disease than during the period of recovery. Acute infection produces in the infant the same changes previously found to occur in the older child.