Key result
Nicotinic acid is linked to dermatosis clearance in ~73% of kwashiorkor cases, suggesting mixed etiology.
Why the study?
The dermatosis associated with kwashiorkor in Basutoland may have a mixed aetiology involving niacin deficiency and protein lack, which required investigation.
Does nicotinic acid improve dermatosis in patients with kwashiorkor?
Does nicotinic acid improve dermatosis in patients with kwashiorkor?
The dermatosis associated with kwashiorkor may have a mixed etiology involving both niacin and protein deficiency.
May support niacin for kwashiorkor dermatosis; leaves open mixed protein-niacin etiology and requires controlled trials.
(1) This communication deals with the treatment of 11 cases of dermatosis in kwashiorkor with nicotinic acid and the original diet of mealie-meal. (2) In eight cases the dermatosis cleared with nicotinic acid; the three cases that failed to show any improvement responded to a high protein diet. (3) The results of this trial are equivocable, but the hypothesis is advanced that the dermatosis associated with kwashiorkor in Basutoland is of mixed aetiology, one cause being a niacin deficiency superimposed on the clinical picture of kwashiorkor; and the other, a lack of protein. The interdependence of amino acids and some of the vitamin B group is discussed.
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K.E. Underwood Ground (1957) studied Dermatosis in kwashiorkor (n=11). Nicotinic acid and mealie-meal diet was evaluated on Clearance of dermatosis. Treatment with nicotinic acid cleared dermatosis in 8 of 11 kwashiorkor cases, while the remaining 3 responded to a high protein diet, suggesting a mixed etiology.
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