Serum creatinine levels and reactive nitrogen intermediates in children with cerebral malaria in Papua New Guinea.

Serum from 41 of 92 children admitted to Madang Hospital, Papua New Guinea, with cerebral malaria, previously assessed for serum levels of reactive nitrogen intermediates (RNI: nitrate plus nitrite), were re-assessed for creatinine levels on the day of admission. Further analysis of RNI levels on day 21 compared to day 0 was carried out. Children with the highest RNI levels on admission, and with the longest duration of coma, did not have elevated creatinine levels. The highest levels of creatinine occurred among those with the lightest coma and creatinine levels were similar in those with short (< 48 h) and long (> 48 h) duration of coma. Between days 0 and 21, RNI decreased in 30 of 57 children, increased in 23, and did not change in 4. There was a significant relationship between the decrease in RNI relative to the level of RNI on admission and the duration of coma. For children with a coma duration < 48 h (48/57), there was no difference between the numbers showing an increase or a decrease in RNI level, but 6 of the 9 children with coma duration > 48 h showed a decrease in RNI greater than 50% of the RNI levels on admission. None of these 9 children had elevated creatinine levels. Elevated RNI levels in severe cases were thus not associated with renal function in these children in Papua New Guinea.