title: Malnutrition and infection influence the peripheral blood reticulocyte micronuclei frequency in children.
abstract: Malnutrition is a serious public health problem that affects approximately one third of all children. Developing countries have the highest incidence of malnourished children, and approximately 60% of deaths that occur in children under five are directly related to malnutrition and associated diseases. The relationship between malnutrition and genetic damage has been widely studied in humans and animal models. The micronucleus (MN) assay is useful in detecting chromosome damage induced by several factors. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of infection and malnutrition on the frequency of MN in erythrocytes from the peripheral blood of well-nourished, uninfected (WN) and well-nourished, infected (WNI) children, and moderately malnourished (UNM) and severely malnourished (UNS) children, both with infection, using a flow cytometric analysis technique. The percentage of reticulocytes (RETs) was significantly higher (1.5-fold) in WNI children than well-nourished controls. In addition, the UNS group had a 2.2-fold increase in the percentage of RETs compared to the WNI group. The frequency of micronucleated reticulocytes (MN-RETs) was 2.5 times greater, in WNI group compared to the WN group. These frequencies were significantly higher (1.7- and 2.1-fold) in UNM and UNS, respectively, compared to the WNI group. The results suggest that infection and malnutrition induce DNA damage in children.
authors: Departamento de Ciencias de la Salud, Universidad Autónoma Metropolitana-Iztapalapa, Mexico.
authors: Elsa
authors: E
authors: Cervantes-Ríos
authors: Rocío
authors: R
authors: Ortiz-Muñiz
authors: Ana Lidia
authors: AL
authors: Martínez-Hernández
authors: Lilián
authors: L
authors: Cabrera-Rojo
authors: Jaime
authors: J
authors: Graniel-Guerrero
authors: Leonor
authors: L
authors: Rodríguez-Cruz
mesh_terms: D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D001772:Blood Cell Count; D002648:Child; D015362:Child Nutrition Disorders / Q000235:genetics; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004249:DNA Damage; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D044342:Malnutrition / Q000097:blood / Q000235:genetics*; D048629:Micronuclei, Chromosome-Defective; D012156:Reticulocytes