Determination of Alkali Retention in Growth 139 



68 (2028) 



The quantitative determination of the alkali retention in growth. 



By ALFRED T. SHOHL, M. D. 



[From the Department of Pediatrics, Yale University School of 

 Medicine, and the New Haven, Hospital, New Haven, Conn,] 



In a report made last year 1 on acid base metabolism in infants, 

 a method was proposed for measuring the retention or the loss 

 of alkali in the body. The method consists in determining the 

 equilibrium or balance of all the acid and basic radicals. The 

 values are computed in terms of normal solutions and the ex- 

 cess of base retention or excretion can then be stated in terms 

 which are a common denominator for all of the elements in 

 mineral metabolism. It is necessary to determine the acids and 

 bases in the food, urine and feces. The results calculated in 

 terms of normal solutions are then totaled. 



By suitable methods of titrating the urine and stools, approx- 

 imately the same values are obtained as by the method of analyz- 

 ing the individual elements. The work will be reported in ex- 

 tenso in a forthcoming number of the American Journal of the 

 diseases of Children, including methods and protocols. 



The metabolism experiments show that for an infant, A, 

 weighing 9 kilos, and one, B, weighing 5 l / 2 kilos, fed on cow's 

 milk, water and sugar, the positive base balance, as shown in 

 the accompanying figure, was 98 c.c. 0.1N alkali in excess of 

 acid and 64 c.c. 0.1N alkali in excess of acid. Calculated on the 

 basis of alkali retained per kilogram of body weight, this equals 

 11 c.c. O.IN alkali retained per day in both cases. 



A B 



Intake —255 c.c O.IN —211 c.c. O.IN 



Output —157 —147 



-4- base balance or base retained 98 64 



A recalculation of the available data in the literature confirms 

 our results. This appears to be a very large amount of base 



l Skohl, Alfred T., Acid Base Metabolism in Infants, Journal Biological 

 Chemistry, 1922, xxxvi, 50. 



