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Evaluation of infection and nutritional status as determinants of cellular immunosuppression
Author(s) -
ShellDuncan Bettina
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
american journal of human biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.559
H-Index - 81
eISSN - 1520-6300
pISSN - 1042-0533
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1520-6300(1997)9:3<381::aid-ajhb10>3.0.co;2-i
Subject(s) - immunosuppression , malnutrition , immune system , cellular immunity , medicine , immunology , immune status , immunity , pediatrics , physiology
While an association between severe protein‐energy malnutrition and diminished cellular immunity has been documented, the impact of lesser grades of malnutrition on cellular immunosuppression is less clear. This study emphasizes that the relationship between mild‐to‐ moderate malnutrition and cellular immune function, assessed through delayed‐type hypersensitivity testing, is often obscured by the immunosuppressive effects of concurrent infection. Results from an 18‐month prospective field study of nutritional status, cellular immune function and morbidity among 62 nomadic Turkana children ages 8 months to 10 years were used to quantify the immunosuppressive effects of mild‐to‐moderate malnutrition and infection. When controlling for infection at the time of DTH testing, children below ‐2 s.d. of the reference median weight‐ for‐height or weight‐for‐age were at least 3 times as likely to be anergic (non‐responsive) as children at the reference median. At the same time, infected children experienced a 4.9 times higher risk of being anergic compared to uninfected children. These findings suggest that mild‐to‐moderate malnutrition and infection are significant independent risk factors for impaired cellular immune function among Turkana children. Am. J. Hum. Biol. 9:381–390, 1997. © 1997 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.