Malnutrition and impaired immune response to infection

Effects of polybrominated biphenyls (PBB) on immune response in rodents.

“…Finally, it has been suggested that PBBs cause impairment in absorption and/or utilization of specific nutrients as evidenced by pair-feeding studies in Japanese quail and chickens following ingestion of 500 ppm of PBB-contaminated feed (26). Depression of humoral responses (27,28) and depression (28) or enhancement (29) of cellular immune response have been observed in studies of experimental malnutrition. However, the immune alterations may be related to changes in serum levels of glucocorticoids as found in children with protein calorie malnutrition (30) and in undernourished young rats (31).…”

The History of Sepsis from Ancient Egypt to the XIX Century

“…For this reason, it is not surprising that the total absence of pus production was interpreted as an ominous sign (Grmek 1991). Nowadays we know that an absence of pyogenic response may indicate an insufficiency of secondary local inflammatory response to the immune system, even more in the context of a malnourished, elderly or weakened patient (McFarlane 1976;Opal 2005). As a result, the Hippocratic physician focused part of his therapeutic efforts in allowing a rather conservative and limited suppuration of the lesions (Grmek 1991).…”

Effect of Three Days Starvation on the Phagocytic Activity of Rat Peritoneal Macrophages

“…Malnutrition is often associated with impaired immune response and a subsequent increased susceptibility to infections, as well as an increase in mortality rate [1, 2, 3]. Leite et al [4] found a positive correlation between children living in poverty, exposed to prolonged malnutrition and incidence of infections, which reached 42% of 46 patients consecutively admitted to a Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.…”

“…The mortality rate between malnourished children was 20 versus 12.5% of those with a normal nutritional status. Malnutrition in pregnant women results not only in increased prenatal infections, but also in a consequent growth retardation and sustained immune depression of the newborn [1]. It has been shown that malnutrition is associated with functional defects of the macrophages.…”