title: Immunoregulatory leucocyte subset typing and PHA response in relation to the nutritional state in cancer patients with gastrointestinal neoplasia.
abstract: Cancer patients are frequently immunodepressed and this could be related to undernutrition, particularly in gastrointestinal (GI) neoplasia. We therefore looked for correlations between different leucocyte subsets' (T11+, T4+, T8+, B1+, and Mo2+) cells in the peripheral blood of these patients and their nutritional state. Significant alterations were found in absolute number/ml of T11+, T4+, B1+, and Mo2+ cells. Malnourished cancer patients were more affected than those appearing well-nourished, exhibiting a decrease of 50% in the number of T11+, T4+, and B1+ cells as compared with healthy controls. The phytohemagglutinin A (PHA) stimulation index (SI) was also significantly decreased in the malnourished group. Linear regression analysis between SI and these leucocyte subsets revealed that only the T4+ cells offered a significant correlation (r = 0.6169 p less than 0.01). These results suggest that the absolute number/ml of T4+ cells reflects the nutritional state of patients bearing GI tumors.
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D005770:Gastrointestinal Neoplasms / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D007962:Leukocytes / Q000145:classification* / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008875:Middle Aged; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000097:blood / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology; D009747:Nutritional Physiological Phenomena; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D010835:Phytohemagglutinins