Nutritional Edema. I. Effect of Level and Quality of Protein Intake on Nitrogen Balance, Plasma Proteins and Edema

Abstract

Nutritional edema is apparently another type of edema in which the mechanism of its production is related to the low level of plasma proteins, similar to that of nephrosis and plasmapheresis. In nutritional edema, however, the lowered plasma proteins are brought about by a deficiency in protein in diet. Denton and Kohman1 produced edema in a large proportion of rats fed largely on carrots. This work was confirmed by Frisch, Mendel and Peters,2 who in addition showed that the plasma proteins were low in their rats. Recently Shelburne and Egloff3 succeeded in producing edema in a dog fed on a low protein diet. We add the following preliminary report of a study on the nitrogen balance, plasma proteins and extent of edema in 2 cases of nutritional edema under the influence of different dietary regimes.The 2 patients, aged 11 and 20 respectively, were inmates of an orphanage in which they subsisted for a long time on a diet deficient in protein. They presented evidence of undernutrition with marked edema. Ther...