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Elevated acute-phase protein in stunted Nepali children reporting low morbidity: different rural and urban profiles

Panter-Brick, C; Lunn, PG; Baker, R; Todd, A

Elevated acute-phase protein in stunted Nepali children reporting low morbidity: different rural and urban profiles Thumbnail


Authors

C Panter-Brick

PG Lunn

R Baker

A Todd



Abstract

This study examined the associations between severity of stunting, plasma protein concentrations and morbidity of 104 Nepali boys, aged 10±14 years, living in contrasting environments. Boys from a remote village were compared with three similarly aged urban groups: poor squatters, homeless street children, and middle-class schoolchildren. All but the middle-class group were stunted, particularly village boys whose mean height-for-age z-score (22´97, SD 0´82) indicates severe growth retardation. Stunting was significantly associated with increased plasma levels of the acute-phase protein a1-antichymotrypsin itself inversely related to plasma levels of albumin. Plasma ACT levels of village children (mean 1´52 g/l, SD 0´43) were three to four times higher than those of squatters and homeless street children, and five times higher than those of middle-class boys. Despite being the most severely stunted and having the most abnormal plasma protein values, village children reported the lowest burden of disease, a contradiction which may reflect exposure to sub-clinical infections or habituation to illness and low expectation of treatment. This study draws attention to the strikingly high levels of ACT and of stunting in the rural sample, and cautions on the use of uncorroborated morbidity reports across different epidemiological and socio-ecological environments. Possible mechanisms to explain the impact of illness and inflammation on growth faltering are discussed.

Citation

Panter-Brick, C., Lunn, P., Baker, R., & Todd, A. (2001). Elevated acute-phase protein in stunted Nepali children reporting low morbidity: different rural and urban profiles. British Journal of Nutrition, 85(1), 125-131. https://doi.org/10.1079/bjn2000225

Journal Article Type Article
Online Publication Date Nov 4, 2005
Publication Date 2001-01
Deposit Date May 23, 2008
Publicly Available Date Mar 28, 2024
Journal British Journal of Nutrition
Print ISSN 0007-1145
Electronic ISSN 1475-2662
Publisher Cambridge University Press
Peer Reviewed Peer Reviewed
Volume 85
Issue 1
Pages 125-131
DOI https://doi.org/10.1079/bjn2000225
Keywords Child growth, Growth failure, Nutritional status, Acute-phase proteins.

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Copyright Statement
© The Nutrition Society 2001





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