[Enzymatic aspects of severely acute diarrheal disease in infants].

Acute dehydration of diarrhoea of the breast-fed child is a type of hypovolemic shock which, by its severity and frequency is one of the major emergencies of pediatrics. The liver, as the site of many metabolic processes is mainly affected in the frame of the multiple-tissue involvement which is characteristic for this condition. The authors carried out a study of several enzymes (total LDH and the thermally-labile fraction, gluthamatdehydrogenase, gammaglutamyltranspeptidase, acid and alkaline phosphatase) in 27 breast-fed children. Determination of the enzymes was done on hospitalization, and 10 days later. The study showed that all the enzymes that were evaluated had moderate increases in 40.7-71% of all cases. The increases were significant (p less than 0.001). After 10 days the enzyme titers showed a tendency to become normal again, and slightly higher values were found in only 15-12% of all cases. Minimal hepatopathy can be considered, associated to the clinico-biological evolution of this severe conditions of the breast-fed child pathology.