thymic-factor--circulating and Communicable-Diseases

The content of the thymalin polypeptides in the thymus is studied in the course of the 1st to 4th stages of the acute thymus involution in children dying from noninfectious and infectious disease. The results obtained were compared to the level of the circulating thymic factor and the number of T- and 'O' lymphocytes in the circulating blood of children with identical diseases and control group of the same age. It is concluded that the acute involution of the thymus in children with non-infectious and acute infectious diseases results in the progressive decrease of the production by the thymus of the immunomodulating polypeptides (thymic hormones) which is restored in the period of recovery.

Topics: Acute Disease; Adjuvants, Immunologic; Communicable Diseases; Humans; Infant; Infant, Newborn; Leukocyte Count; Peptides; Thymic Factor, Circulating; Thymus Gland

The combined effects of protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) and infection on thymic function evaluated by specific plasma thymulin activity were studied in Senegalese children: 29 hospitalized in Dakar for severe malnutrition and various diseases; 9 infected without sign of severe PEM, living in Dakar; 13 apparently healthy, uninfected, living in Dakar; and 7 apparently healthy, uninfected, living in Paris. Most of the free-living children in Dakar suffered from mild to moderate PEM. The specific thymulin activity (total plasma activity minus the activity recorded after adsorption of the plasma with a monoclonal antithymulin antibody) was almost undetectable in the infected children and was normal only in the children living in Paris. Such activity might be decreased by moderate and severe PEM and severe malnutrition may not be the only underlying cause of depressed level of thymulin in malnourished children from the Third World. Concurrent infections are important factors.

Topics: Blood Proteins; Child, Preschool; Communicable Diseases; Humans; Infant; Lymphokines; Paris; Protein-Energy Malnutrition; Senegal; T-Lymphocytes; Thymic Factor, Circulating; Thymus Gland; Thymus Hormones; Urban Population