Endogenous nitrogen excretion in male highlanders of Papua New Guinea.

Endogenous nitrogen excretion was examined in highlanders of Papua New Guinea. Eight highlanders were fed a semisynthetic protein-free diet with about 49 kcal/kg of energy for 11 days. At the end of this period they excreted 29.2 +/- 4.0 mg N/kg of urinary nitrogen and 13.9 +/- 2.5 mg N/kg of fecal nitrogen per day. When the values were expressed per basal metabolic rate (BMR), they were 1.25 +/- 0.19 mg N/kcal BMR for urine and 0.59 +/- 0.08 mg N/kcal BMR for feces. The total amount was calculated as 43.1 +/- 4.3 mg N/kg (1.84 +/- 0.18 mg N/kcal BMR). Endogenous urinary nitrogen excretion in highlanders was the lowest so far reported; the effects of ethnic and nutritional backgrounds on obligatory urinary N loss were examined but no clear explanation was found for the highlanders' low value.