Recovery of cellular immune competence during treatment of protein-calorie malnutrition.

Fifty Bangladeshi children with severe protein-calorie malnutrition were randomly allocated at admission to four groups and sensitized to dinitrochlorobenzene either immediately or after 1, 2, or 3 wk of protein-calorie replacement therapy. Ability to initiate cutaneous hypersensitivity to dinitrochlorobenzene on admission was impaired when the total serum proteins was less than 5.5 g/dl, but uniformly recovered after 1 wk of feeding. Three severely malnourished children with total serum proteins less than 4.5 g/dl in whom sensitization was attempted before refeeding failed to respond despite repeated challenge, suggesting immunological tolerance to dinitrochlorobenzene. The data support the concept of a threshold serum protein level, at least as an indicator, below which cellular immunity may be temporarily, or even permanently, impaired.