TY - JOUR T1 - “Lung sparing growth”: is the lung not affected by malnutrition? JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/13993003.00295-2017 VL - 49 IS - 4 SP - 1700295 AU - Insa Korten AU - Jakob Usemann AU - Philipp Latzin Y1 - 2017/04/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/49/4/1700295.abstract N2 - Malnutrition is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in developing countries [1]. It has been reported to play a role in different acute and chronic disease conditions [2–4], including respiratory diseases and lung development [5, 6]. Starting in utero, maternal malnutrition during pregnancy may influence postnatal lung function directly (e.g. through decreased alveolar number), or indirectly (e.g. through intrauterine growth retardation, prematurity or low birth weight) [7]. There is clear evidence of detrimental effects of vitamin A deficiency in pregnancy on lung function in childhood [8]. Early postnatal malnutrition was associated with several adverse pulmonary effects and lung injury in animal models, e.g. decreased lung protein and DNA synthesis in the lungs [9], whereas breastfeeding and balanced nutrition is thought to be protective [10, 11]. Furthermore, Vitamin D and C deficiency have been reported to cause deficits in lung function and structure [12, 13]. To summarise, malnutrition potentially influences respiratory health and lung function on multiple levels.“Lung sparing growth”: intriguing hypothesis to explain why the lung is not affected by severe acute malnutrition http://ow.ly/9V5d309M1ho ER -