Immunological background in children with persistent diarrhea in Ghana

Background: Persistent diarrheal diseases have become one of the most serious medical problems in developing countries, but few studies have been conducted to determine the risk factors. In the present study, we investigated the nutritional and immunological background in children with persistent di...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Pediatrics international 1999-04, Vol.41 (2), p.162-167
Main Authors: Taniguchi, Kiyosu, Rikimaru, Toru, Yartey, Juliana E, Akpedonu, Patience, Armar-Klemesu, Margaret A, Nkrumah, Francis K, Kamiya, Hitoshi, Kishi, Kyouichi, Armar, Doris A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
AIDS/HIV
CD4-CD8 Ratio
cellular immunity
Child Nutrition Disorders - complications
Child, Preschool
Chronic Disease
Diarrhea - etiology
Diarrhea - immunology
Female
Ghana
Humans
Immunity, Cellular - immunology
Infant
Infant, Newborn
lymphocyte subclass
Lymphocyte Subsets
Male
Nutritional Status
persistent diarrhea
Risk Assessment
undernutrition
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Summary:Background: Persistent diarrheal diseases have become one of the most serious medical problems in developing countries, but few studies have been conducted to determine the risk factors. In the present study, we investigated the nutritional and immunological background in children with persistent diarrhea in comparison with those with acute diarrhea. Methods: Children with diarrhea who were brought to the Oral Rehydration Salt Clinic of Princess Marie Louise Children’s Hospital in Accra were evaluated from an immunological and nutritional aspect. In the follow‐up visit, the cases whose diarrhea stopped within 2 weeks after onset were classified into the acute diarrhea group; those with diarrhea lasting more than 2 weeks were classed in the persistent group. Nutritional and immunological data at the initial visit were compared between these two groups. Results: In general, the diarrhea cases had a tendency to undernutrition and impaired cellular immunity compared with healthy control. Persistent cases had lower values for longer half‐life, rapid turn‐over proteins. Persistent cases had a higher percentage of CD8+ cells and lower CD4/CD8 ratio. CD25 expression in CD4+ cells stimulated by anti‐CD3 antibody was lower in the persistent diarrhea group. Conclusion: These results appear to support the hypothesis that more severe nutritional status and impairment of cellular immunity is related to the persistence of diarrhea.
ISSN:1328-8067
1442-200X
DOI:10.1046/j.1442-200X.1999.4121034.x