title: Acute shift in immune response to microbial activators in very-low-birth-weight infants.
abstract: Investigation of lymphocyte activation in vitro to microbial pathogens was undertaken in very-low-birth-weight infants during the first 2 weeks of life. Twenty-three infants with birth weights less than 1500 g were studied on day 1. Normal adults (n = 23) and cord blood from seven full-term infants were used as controls. Longitudinal studies were also carried out on seven of the 23 infants 2 weeks following delivery. Results indicated that lymphocyte responses of very-low-birth-weight infants on day 1 of life were significantly greater than those of both adult controls and full-term infants, particularly to Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus epidermidis and Staphylococcal protein A. In contrast, response to the T cell mitogen phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) was significantly less in very-low-birth-weight infants than in adult controls and full-term infants. The seven very-low-birth-weight infants studied showed a down-regulation of immune response in the 2 weeks following birth, such that responses on day 14 were significantly less than those on day 1 for the same activators. This shift in immune response appears to have important implications for the immune development and host defence in the post-natal period.
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatrics, New York Hospital, NY 10021.
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Veber
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Cunningham-Rundles
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schulman
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mandel
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Auld
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006193:Haemophilus influenzae / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D007230:Infant, Low Birth Weight / Q000276:immunology*; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000276:immunology; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology; D008297:Male; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology; D013211:Staphylococcus aureus / Q000276:immunology; D013212:Staphylococcus epidermidis / Q000276:immunology; D013223:Statistics as Topic
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins