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Normalization of cellular zinc levels in patients with Down's syndrome does not always correct low thymulin levels
Author(s) -
Brigino EN,
Good RA,
Koutsonikolis A,
Day NK,
Kornfeld SJ
Publication year - 1996
Publication title -
acta pædiatrica
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 115
eISSN - 1651-2227
pISSN - 0803-5253
DOI - 10.1111/j.1651-2227.1996.tb13929.x
Subject(s) - medicine , zinc , normalization (sociology) , endocrinology , down syndrome , immunology , materials science , psychiatry , sociology , anthropology , metallurgy
Retrospective analysis of five Down's syndrome (DS) patients who presented with recurrent infection revealed that all had initial low thymulin levels. Three patients had low cellular zinc levels that normalized after zinc replacement. Contrary to previous studies, thymulin levels were persistently low in four of five DS patients despite maintaining or achieving normal cellular zinc levels. A primary thymic epithelial defect may be responsible for the persistent thymulin deficiency in DS patients.