Excretion of polyamines by children with Beckwith's syndrome.

The urinary excretion of the polyamines--putrescine, spermidine, and spermine--was measured in 7 children with Beckwith's syndrome. Putrescine excretion was raised and spermidine excretion reduced. The raised putrescine and the low spermidine ratios were highly significant. These results are consistent with a disturbance in a metabolic pathway under growth hormone-like regulation.