Studies on the Uropepsinogen Excretion in Prematurely Born Infants

The rates of excretion of uropesinogen have been investigated in prematurely born and in full-term infants in early infancy.
When the values obtained are correlated to the body weight the uropepsinogen excretion is found to be on an average the same in both groups of infants even in the neonatal period. The normal range of the excretion is about the same in early infancy as in adults. I n some of the prematures with a low birth weight the excretion is below the normal variations in the first days of life. In these cases, however, there is a successive increase in the excretion during the first month of life. Since the rate of excretion seems to be relatively independent of the protein intake, this increase is suggested to be due to maturation. The significance of these findings has been discussed.