Experimental protein-energy malnutrition in baby baboons

I. The object of this investigation was to produce an animal model of kwashiorkor like that seen in Ugandan children. 2.In the initial studies the baby baboons w-ere wcaned at 8-10 weeks of age and given a full-cream milk diet for z weeks.The milk intakc was then gradually reduced and local staples with a low--protein, high-carbohydrate content were provided instead.hplaintaining the baby baboons for as long as 100 d on this diet markcdly impaired body growth but it did not result in a ' kwashiorltor-like.' appearance. 3.Subsequent stressing of the animals by the introduction of periods of energy restriction did apparently precipitate them into a clinical condition in many ways reminiscent of kwashiorkor.The baboons exhibited extreme mental apathy, and had sparse hair, oedema of the limbs and face, and skin lesions similar to the flaky-paint rash found in scverely malnourished children, hut there was no gross accumulation of fat in the liver.4. The basal diet was subsequently modified by the addition of sucrose to bring the carbohydrate composition more into line with that in food eaten by local Ugandan children.This relatively minor change seemed to cause a morc rapid clinical deterioration and the animals did develop fatty livers as wcll as the other pathological changes.j.The final condition resembled marasmic kwashiorkor and further modification to the experimental design is required if an animal model truly representative of the more typical Ugandan type of kwashiorkor is to be reproduccd.