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Abstract— The concentration of ascorbic acid in whole rat brain during the first week of postnatal life was up to 100 per cent higher than in adult animals. A progressive fall in concentration occurred between 4 and 30 days of age. Corresponding changes did not occur in liver and adrenal gland, two other organs rich in ascorbic acid. Rats subjected to growth retardation during the fetal and suckling periods had, at 25 days of age, levels of ascorbic acid in the cerebellum and brainstem significantly higher than those of control animals. A period of prolonged asphyxia in 5‐day‐old rats resulted in a significant 4 per cent reduction in whole brain ascorbic acid concentration.

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The concentration of tryptophan and the degree of binding of the amino acid to protein were examined in human plasma during the perinatal period. Both total and unbound (free) tryptophan were higher in cord vein plasma than in the maternal circulation, the concentration gradient being approximately 1 : 2. The proportion of the total plasma tryptophan concentration that was not bound to protein was less in cord vein plasma than in the maternal circulation. After birth the proportion in infant plasma fell significantly. Both total and free tryptophan fell during the first 24 hours of postnatal life. Total tryptophan returned to the cord vein plasma level 6--8 days after birth whilst free tryptophan failed to increase during the period of the observations. In premature infants total and free tryptophan also declined in concentration 12--24 hours after birth, suggesting the phenomenon to be related to birth rather than to gestational age. Phenylalanine remained unchanged whilst tyrosine increased in concentration during the first 80 hours of postnatal life. Thus, the availability of tryptophan to the tissues appears to decline during the immediate postnatal period and the results suggest that the requirement for tryptophan during this time may exceed the supply from standard artifical milk preparations.

(Scott, 1976;Thomson et al., 1977), making it more difficult to identify the precise role of asphyxia in causing brain damage. The present study was undertaken in a set of neurologically abnormal babies with a history of fetal distress in labour, to find out whether the types of neurological signs exhibited by such babies have any bearing on their outcome in later infancy or childhood. MethodsSubjects. Newborn babies, 37 to 44 weeks' gestational age, with a history of fetal distress, were diagnosed as severely neurologically abnormal in the early newborn period by colleagues working at the same hospital, because of the unequivocal presence of abnormal tone (hypertonia or hypotonia), irritability on handling (marked increase in spontaneous activity with alteration in respiration, or crying), a 'cerebral' (high-pitched) cry, or convulsions. These Birthweight. The relationship of birthweight to gestational age was studied using charts constructed by Milner and Richards (1974). 564