Depression of lymphocyte response to phytohaemagglutinin in the presence of plasma from children with acute protein energy malnutrition.

Phytohaemagglutinin-induced lymphocyte transformation of four healthy adults and a child with kwashiorkor was performed in the presence of plasma from nineteen patients with protein energy malnutrition and a nutritionally normal child. Marked inhibition occurred in the presence of plasma from six patients who subsequently died, moderate inhibition occurred in six other patients in the acute stage and in two of these six in the convalescent stage, whilst in the remaining seven there was no effect. Reduction in response did not appear to be due to plasma cytotoxicity. Plasma factors in some cases of malnutrition, associated with certain infections appear to inhibit the lymphocyte response and this may have prognostic implications.     

PHA-induced lymphocyte transformations in leucocyte cultures from malarious, malnourished and control Gambian children

The response of peripheral blood lymphocytes to various doses of phytohaemagglutinin was investigated in normal Gambian children, in children with acute Plasmodium falciparum malaria, and in children with acute protein-calorie malnutrition. Some children in the latter two groups were retested after recovery.     

False memories in patients with mild cognitive impairment and mild Alzheimer’s disease dementia: Can cognitive strategies help?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disorder that presents predominantly with impairments in learning and memory. Patients with AD are also susceptible to false memories, a clinically relevant memory distortion where a patient remembers an incorrect memory that they believe to be true. The use of cognitive strategies to improve memory performance among patients with AD by reducing false memories has taken on added importance given the lack of disease-modifying agents for AD. However, existing evidence suggests that cognitive strategies to reduce false memories in patients with AD are of limited effectiveness, although these strategies may be useful at earlier stages of the disease. The purpose of this review is to examine experimental findings of false memories and associated memory processes in patients with mild cognitive impairment due to AD and mild AD dementia. Cognitive strategies to reduce false memories in these patient populations are also reviewed. Approaches to clinically relevant future research are suggested and discussed.     

Comparison of leukocytes obtained from the intestinal lumen of Giardia-infected immunocompetent mice and nude mice

Previous studies have suggested that Giardia infections are cleared immunologically, but have not defined the mechanism of clearance. The aim of the present work was to compare subpopulations of leukocytes harvested from the intestinal lumen of immunocompetent BALB/c mice, which clear Giardia muris infection rapidly, with those of immunodeficient nude mice, which become chronically infected with Giardia muris. Leukocytes were obtained from the intestinal lumen of Giardia-infected mice, and subpopulations of these cells were quantified after immunofluorescent staining with monoclonal antibodies. Identical numbers of leukocytes were harvested from the intestinal lumen of Giardia-infected immunocompetent mice and nude mice, but the number of these leukocytes bearing the T-lymphocyte antigen Thy-1.2 was smaller in nude mice than in immunocompetent mice. In contrast, no striking differences were observed between the numbers of luminal cytotoxic/suppressor T lymphocytes or macrophages in Giardia-infected nude versus immunocompetent mice. The findings suggest that clearance of Giardia muris infection is not mediated by cytotoxic T lymphocytes or macrophages. Subsequently, T lymphocytes and T-lymphocyte subsets were quantified in cell suspensions prepared from Peyer's patches of immunocompetent BALB/c mice and nude mice. It was found that nude mice have a profound deficiency of Peyer's patch helper/inducer T lymphocytes. This deficiency may account for the inability of nude mice to clear Giardia muris infection at a normal rate.