Abstract
The children subjected to this investigation were divided into 2 groups (I and II). Group I included 8 healthy boys, and group II included 20 boys with nutritional dystrophy. Ten mg of pteroylglutamic acid was given subcutaneously and the pteroylglutamic acid excreted in the 24 hour urine after the injection, was estimated fluorometrically. The average (±fiducial limits with a level of significance of 0.5%) of the pteroylglutamic acid excreted in the urine after the injection were 6.7±1.1 mg and 4.4±0.6 mg in groups I and II respectively. The macrocytic anemia was found in 17 cases of group II and in one of group I. Both the high incidence in macrocytic anemia and the small urinary output of pteroylglutamic acid after its injection suggested that the pteroylglutamic acid deficiency existed in the children with nutritional dystrophy.
