Volume 72, Issue 2 pp. 258-266

CLINICAL RESEARCH ARTICLE

Nerve Ultrasound for Detecting Morphologic Changes in Malnourished Children Under 5 Years of Age: A Comparative Study of Nutritional Intervention Outcomes in Bangladesh

Nurun Nahar Naila,

Corresponding Author

Nurun Nahar Naila

[email protected]

orcid.org/0000-0002-9694-6217

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Correspondence:

Nurun Nahar Naila ([email protected])

Contribution: Conceptualization, Methodology, Investigation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Validation, Project administration, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Resources

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Aklima Alam,

Aklima Alam

orcid.org/0000-0002-4686-2584

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Investigation, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Validation, Writing - review & editing, Data curation

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Gobinda Karmakar,

Gobinda Karmakar

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Visualization, Validation, Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Data curation

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M. Munirul Islam,

M. Munirul Islam

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Investigation, Visualization, Project administration, Writing - review & editing, Resources

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Tahmeed Ahmed,

Tahmeed Ahmed

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Office of the Executive Director, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Investigation, Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing, Project administration, Supervision, Resources, Conceptualization

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Badrul Islam,

Badrul Islam

BRB Hospitals Limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh

KPJ Specialized Hospital & Nursing College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Conceptualization, Investigation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Validation, Visualization, Methodology, Supervision, Data curation, Formal analysis, Resources, Funding acquisition, Software

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Nurun Nahar Naila,

Corresponding Author

Nurun Nahar Naila

[email protected]

orcid.org/0000-0002-9694-6217

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Correspondence:

Nurun Nahar Naila ([email protected])

Search for more papers by this author

Aklima Alam,

Aklima Alam

orcid.org/0000-0002-4686-2584

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Investigation, Methodology, Writing - original draft, Validation, Writing - review & editing, Data curation

Search for more papers by this author

Gobinda Karmakar,

Gobinda Karmakar

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Methodology, Software, Formal analysis, Visualization, Validation, Writing - review & editing, Writing - original draft, Data curation

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M. Munirul Islam,

M. Munirul Islam

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Investigation, Visualization, Project administration, Writing - review & editing, Resources

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Tahmeed Ahmed,

Tahmeed Ahmed

Nutrition Research Division, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Office of the Executive Director, ICDDR,B, Dhaka, Bangladesh

Contribution: Investigation, Funding acquisition, Writing - review & editing, Project administration, Supervision, Resources, Conceptualization

Search for more papers by this author

Badrul Islam,

Badrul Islam

BRB Hospitals Limited, Dhaka, Bangladesh

KPJ Specialized Hospital & Nursing College, Dhaka, Bangladesh

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First published: 14 May 2025

https://doi.org/10.1002/mus.28432

Funding: The research received support from the Mujib 100 Research Grant for Women (MRGW), grant number GR-01945.

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ABSTRACT

Introduction/Aims

Malnourished children may experience disrupted peripheral nerve myelination, leading to impaired nerve conduction. However, ultrasound data on nerve morphology in severely malnourished children are lacking. Therefore, we performed a systematic study, comparing nerve ultrasound in malnourished children to controls.

Methods

Nerve cross-sectional area (CSA) was assessed in three categories of malnourished (severe acute malnutrition [SAM], stunted, and wasted) and healthy Bangladeshi children aged 6–59 months to compare morphological changes at baseline (pre-intervention) and post-nutritional intervention.

Results

A total of 74 children were enrolled, including 17 with SAM, 19 wasted, 18 stunted, and 20 healthy controls. SAM children showed smaller nerve CSA compared to wasted peers, particularly in the sciatic nerve (8.25 mm² vs. 11.48 mm², p = 0.035) and median nerve proximal wrist (2.65 mm² vs. 2.90 mm², p = 0.004) among 6–23-month-olds. In the 24–59-month group, the median nerve proximal wrist CSA in SAM children was 2.30 mm² versus 3.90 mm² in healthy children (p = 0.019), and sciatic nerve CSA was 9.05 mm² versus 16.60 mm² (p = 0.008). Nutritional intervention improved z-scores in SAM children numerically, though not significantly within the study period.

Discussion

SAM children had smaller nerve CSA compared with wasted, stunted, and healthy children at specific nerve locations. These findings underscore the substantial impact of SAM on nerve morphology and the importance of early, sustained nutritional interventions, warranting further validation through animal models and large-scale studies in both children and adults.

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Open Research

Data Availability Statement

The data described in the manuscript will be accessible upon request to the corresponding author.

Supporting Information

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Volume72, Issue2

August 2025

Pages 258-266

Filename	Description
mus28432-sup-0001-TableS1.docxWord 2007 document , 13.2 KB	Table S1. Nerve cross sectional area among healthy children.
mus28432-sup-0002-TableS2.docxWord 2007 document , 14.6 KB	Table S2. Changes in nerve cross-sectional area among 6–23 months children before and after nutritional intervention.
mus28432-sup-0003-TableS3.docxWord 2007 document , 14.5 KB	Table S3. Changes in nerve cross-sectional area among 24–59 months children before and nutritional intervention.

Nerve Ultrasound for Detecting Morphologic Changes in Malnourished Children Under 5 Years of Age: A Comparative Study of Nutritional Intervention Outcomes in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Introduction/Aims

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conflicts of Interest

Open Research

Data Availability Statement

Supporting Information

References

References

Information

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Nerve Ultrasound for Detecting Morphologic Changes in Malnourished Children Under 5 Years of Age: A Comparative Study of Nutritional Intervention Outcomes in Bangladesh

ABSTRACT

Introduction/Aims

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conflicts of Interest

Open Research

Data Availability Statement

Supporting Information

References

References

Related

Information