PLASMA SECRETIN IN NEONATES

Abstract. Lucas, A., Adrian, T. E., Bloom, S. R. and Aynsley‐Green, A. (University Department of Paediatrics, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford and Hammersmith Hospital, London). Plasma secretin in neonates. Acta Paediatr Scand, 69: 205, 1980.—Plasma secretin has been measured in 96 normal 6‐day‐old term infants and in 158 healthy preterm infants whose mean post‐partum ages were 2½, 6, 13 or 24‐days. At birth, plasma secretin levels in both term and preterm infants were high compared with those seen in healthy fasting adults (p > 0.001), but subsequently declined towards adult values. In contrast, preterm infants who had not been fed for the first 6 days of life, had presistently high basal plasma secretin values. In term infants at 6 days of age and in preterm infants up to 13 days, there was no se‐cretin response to a feed. However, by 24 days, preterm infants showed a marked post‐prandial secretin elevation (p > 0.02). No correlations were found between plasma secretin concentrations and either blood glucose or plasma insulin concentrations following a feed. Significant adjustments in plasma secretin levels occur in the early weeks of life which may be influenced by enteral feeding.