Apoptotic changes in lymphocytes of protein energy malnutrition patients

Abstract

Detection of the apoptotic cellular changes of lymphocytes in protein energy malnutrition (PEM) and correlating these findings to increased incidence of infection in PEM were the main objectives of this study. The studied malnourished infants (15 edematous and 15 nonedematous) and 10 healthy controls were subjected to medical history, clinical examination, and routine laboratory workup besides estimation of cellular apoptotic changes using flow cytometry. Infants were re-evaluated after 30 days of nutritional rehabilitation. All apoptotic indices were higher in malnourished cases compared with the controls and normalized after nutritional rehabilitation. Positive significant correlation was found between the rate of infection and the early apoptotic cell percent in both groups of patients before nutritional rehabilitation. In conclusion, the abnormalities of lymphocytes in PEM are not only limited to their abnormal count or disturbed subsets ratio but also include enhanced apoptosis of their peripheral forms which may explain many of the associated abnormalities in PEM. This apoptotic derangement is reversible by implementing an early nutritional rehabilitation program.