Implications of dietary therapy.

The effect of low protein diets on the production of waste metabolites in normal persons and on their blood levels in patients with renal failure is examined, and their possible role in producing uremic symptoms is considered on the basis of in vitro and in vivo studies in animals and man. These preliminary observations are used as a basis for an interpretation of the symptoms of uremia and of the mechanism of action of low nitrogen diets with high biological value protein. The possible side effects, the limitations, and the therapeutic possibilities of such treatment are discussed.