Observations on the origin of liver fat in infantile malnutrition

Liver samples were obtained by biopsy from malnourished children in Jamaica, and also from a group of children who had recovered from malnutrition. The activity of glucose-6-phosphatase was significantly reduced in the liver of the malnourished children. The ability of liver homogenates to synthesize fat from acetate was less in the malnourished children than in the recovered group, but the difference was not significant. In the malnourished children, the fasting levels of nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) and glycerol in the plasma were increased. The origin of the excess liver fat in kwashiorkor is discussed, and it is concluded that it is derived directly from dietary carbohydrate (Summary)