No abstract

Protein-energy malnutrition reduced the affinity of antibody to tetanus toxoid, particularly after primary immunization. The effect on antibody affinity was more marked in patients with hypoproteinemia than in those with marasmus. Hemagglutinating antibody levels were comparable in undernourished and well-nourished groups. Circulating immune complexes were detected in eight of 21 children with protein-energy malnutrition and in one of the controls. Differences in antibody affinity in malnutrition may be an important determinant of altered host resistance and of complications of disease in nutritional deficiency.

Thirty‐two early‐passage human embryonic cultures were examined in the electron microscope and one of them, derived from a muscle tissue, contained two budding and four mature type‐C virus particles. Of the 15 original embryonic tissues from five embryos, only one showed the presence of a virus‐like particle. It is of interest to note that the tissue specimens which contained virus‐like particles originated from the same embryo.

SYNOPSIS Neutrophil mobilization following administration of Pseudomonas polysaccharide was significantly reduced in malnutrition, especially during infection. The random mobility of polymorphonuclear leucocytes (PMNs) was slightly decreased in undernutrition. Chemotactic migration of PMNs was depressed and correlated more with the presence of infection than with nutritional deficiency. It is possible that these abnormalities of PMN mobilization and mobility in malnourished individuals contribute to suboptimal amount, kinetics, and pattern of tissue inflammatory response to bacteraemic challenge.