VENOUS PLASMA FREE AMINO ACID LEVELS OF MOTHER AND CHILD DURING DELIVERY .3. - IN A LOWER SOCIO-ECONOMIC GROUP OF A REFUGEE AREA IN KARACHI, WEST PAKISTAN, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO SMALL FOR DATES SYNDROME

The plasma aminograms of mother's and cord vein plasma during delivery were studied in selected cases from a lower socio‐economi‐cal group in West Pakistan with a high incidence of intrauterine growth retardation of the foetus. There was a highly significant increase in the levels of the non‐essential amino acids glycine and ornithine in the mother's plasma and of glycine and proline in cord plasma. The plasma glycine/valine quotient was significantly increased in maternal as well as in cord plasma. It is suggested that the plasma glycine/valine quotient may serve as an index of subclinical protein undernutrition (low intake of dietary nitrogen) of mother and foetus and thus become a tool in the investigation of the immediate and late effects of this condition during pregnancy in human populations. The maternal quotient is not changed by short gestation or hypertensive disorder during pregnancy. Copyright © 1969, Wiley Blackwell. All rights reserved