Background Children with medically complicated severe acute malnutrition (SAM) have high risk of inpatient mortality. Diarrhea, carbohydrate malabsorption, and refeeding syndrome may contribute to early mortality and delayed recovery. We tested the hypothesis that a lactose-free, low-carbohydrate F75 milk would serve to limit these risks, thereby reducing the number of days in the stabilization phase. Methods and findings In a multicenter double-blind trial, hospitalized severely malnourished children were randomized to receive standard formula (F75) or isocaloric modified F75 (mF75) without lactose and with reduced carbohydrate. The primary endpoint was time to stabilization, as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), with intention-to-treat analysis. Secondary outcomes included in-hospital mortality, diarrhea, and biochemical features of malabsorption and refeeding syndrome. The trial was registered at clinicaltrials.gov (NCT02246296). Four hundred eighteen and 425 severely malnourished children were randomized to F75 and mF75, respectively, with 516 (61%) enrolled in Kenya and 327 (39%) in Malawi. Children with a median age of 16 months were enrolled between 4 December 2014 and 24 December 2015. One hundred ninety-four (46%) children assigned to F75 and 188 (44%) to mF75 had diarrhea at admission. Median time to stabilization was 3 days (IQR 2–5 days), which was similar between randomized groups (0.23 [95% CI −0.13 to 0.60], P = 0.59). There was no evidence of effect modification by diarrhea at admission, age, edema, or HIV status. Thirty-six and 39 children died before stabilization in the F75 and in mF75 arm, respectively ( P = 0.84). Cumulative days with diarrhea ( P = 0.27), enteral ( P = 0.42) or intravenous fluids ( P = 0.19), other serious adverse events before stabilization, and serum and stool biochemistry at day 3 did not differ between groups. The main limitation was that the primary outcome of clinical stabilization was based on WHO guidelines, comprising clinical evidence of recovery from acute illness as well as metabolic stabilization evidenced by recovery of appetite. Conclusions Empirically treating hospitalized severely malnourished children during the stabilization phase with lactose-free, reduced-carbohydrate milk formula did not improve clinical outcomes. The biochemical analyses suggest that the lactose-free formulae may still exceed a carbohydrate load threshold for intestinal absorption, which may limit their usefulness in the context of complicated SAM. Trial registration ClinicalTrials.gov NCT02246296 .

Malnutrition contributes significantly to death and illness worldwide and especially to the deaths of children younger than 5 years. The relation between intestinal changes in malnutrition and morbidity and mortality has not been well characterized; however, recent research indicates that the functional and morphologic changes of the intestine secondary to malnutrition itself contribute significantly to these negative clinical outcomes and may be potent targets of intervention. The aim of this review was to summarize current knowledge of experimental and clinically observed changes in the intestine from malnutrition preclinical models and human studies. Limited clinical studies have shown villous blunting, intestinal inflammation, and changes in the intestinal microbiome of malnourished children. In addition to these findings, experimental data using various animal models of malnutrition have found evidence of increased intestinal permeability, upregulated intestinal inflammation, and loss of goblet cells. More mechanistic studies are urgently needed to improve our understanding of malnutrition-related intestinal dysfunction and to identify potential novel targets for intervention.

Objective: Management of late fetal growth restriction (FGR) is limited to adequate fetal monitoring and optimal timing of delivery. The Disproportionate Intrauterine Growth Intervention Trial At Term (DIGITAT) trial compared induction of labor with expectant management in pregnancies at (near) term complicated by suspected FGR. Findings of the DIGITAT trial were that expectant monitoring prolonged pregnancy for 10 days and increased birth weight with only 130 grams. This resulted in more infants born below the 2.3rd percentile compared to induction of labor, respectively, 12.5% in induction of labor and 30.6% in expectant monitoring group. The main placental lesions associated with FGR are maternal vascular malperfusion, fetal vascular malperfusion, and villitis of unknown etiology. We investigated whether placentas of pregnancies complicated with FGR in the expectant monitoring group reveal more and more severe pathology due to pregnancy prolongation. Material and methods: The DIGITAT trial was a multicenter, randomized controlled trial with suspected FGR beyond 36 + 0 weeks. We now analyzed all available cases ( n = 191) for placental pathology. The macroscopic details were collected and histological slides were recorded and classified by a single perinatal pathologist, blinded for pregnancy details and outcome. The different placental lesions were scored based on the latest international criteria for placental lesions as defined in the Amsterdam Placental Workshop Group Consensus Statement. Results: The presence of maternal vascular malperfusion and chorioamnionitis were higher in the expectant management group ( p < 0.05 and p < 0.01, respectively). No differences in placental weight and maturation of the placenta between the induction of labor and the expectant management group were seen. Fetal vascular malperfusion, villitis of unknown etiology and nucleated red blood cell count did not differ between the groups. Conclusion: Expectant management of late FGR is associated with increased maternal vascular malperfusion and chorioamnionitis. This may have implications for fetal and neonatal outcome, such as programming in the developing child influencing health outcomes later in life.