Metabolic and clinical consequences of changing from high-glucose to high-fat regimens in parenterally fed newborn infants.

To evaluate the metabolic and clinical consequences of changing from high-glucose to high-fat regimens during initiation of parenteral nutrition, we performed 22 studies in 11 newborn infants (birth weight (mean +/- SD) 2.54 +/- 0.54 kg, gestational age 37 +/- 3 weeks, postnatal age 8 +/- 3 days) maintained in a constant thermal environment. In a paired design, two isoproteinic (2.4 +/- 0.2 gm/kg/day) and isocaloric (64 +/- 6 kcal/kg/day) regimens differing by source of energy (high glucose vs high lipid) were infused on consecutive days. Environmental and body temperatures were recorded during a 4-hour period, and 24-hour urinary excretions of catecholamines, nitrogen, and C peptide were measured. Despite constant incubator and average skin temperatures, the rectal and interscapular temperatures rose significantly when the high-glucose regimen was changed to a high-lipid regimen. The specific locations of these changes in body temperature suggested brown fat activation. A significant drop in nitrogen retention (63 +/- 9% vs 56 +/- 10%) during the lipid infusion could be further evidence of a metabolic adaptation to the rapid change in energy substrates.

Environmental temperature control in very low birth weight infants (less than 1000 grams) cared for in double-walled incubators.

To evaluate the effect of fluctuations in environment and body temperatures on preterm infants, we recorded these variables in very immature newborn infants (birth weight less than 1000 gm) cared for in double-walled incubators (Air-Shields model C-100 and Ohio model IC). Both incubators maintained environmental temperatures corresponding overall to the set point, despite incubator openings. Under skin temperature servocontrol, however, environmental temperature fluctuations were greater than 2 degrees C even in strictly controlled conditions. The pattern of incubator temperature fluctuations depended on the set point rather than on the type of incubator (conventionally heated or heated by warm air blown between the double walls). The long-term clinical significance of the incubator temperature variability remains to be determined; the choice between air and skin servocontrolling should depend in part on the need for environmental stability.