[Effect of the nutritional recovery on the concentration of Interleukin-2 in severely malnourished children]. / Efecto de la recuperación nutricia sobre la concentración de Interleucina-2 en niñios con desnutrición grave.

The severely malnourished child has dysfunction of the immune response that may increase the risk of morbidity or mortality due to infectious diseases, therefore, the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effect of intensive nutritional support on the cellular and serum concentration of IL-2 and CD4+, as well as CD8+ T cells in children with severe protein energy malnutrition. A clinical assay was carried out in a tertiary care hospital. 10 severely malnourished children < 48 months of age who received formula without lactose via enteral feeding for two weeks and ad libitum for an additional two weeks were included. Cellular and serum concentrations of IL-2 and the subpopulation of CD4+ and CD8+ were obtained. A control group (n = 13) was included. A paired student t test for initial-final determinations and the Mann-Whitney Test for comparison with control group were used, and null hypothesis was rejected with a p value < 0.05. There was a noteworthy increase in the comparison between the initial vs. final percentage of the cellular expression of IL-2 (p < 0.001) and in the serum concentration of IL-2 (p = 0.001). Therefore, four weeks of nutritional recovery significantly restored the production of IL-2, independently of the nutrients involved in the process, although, the rate of restoration seems to depend on the severity of the children primary PEM.

Efecto de la recuperación nutricia sobre la concentración de Interleucina-2 en niños con desnutrición grave

El niño con desnutrición grave tiene una disfunción de la respuesta inmune que puede aumentar de manera significativa la morbilidad y la mortalidad por infecciones. Por ello, el objetivo del presente estudio fue demostrar el efecto del apoyo nutricio intensivo en la concentración en suero y celular de IL-2 y sub-poblaciones de células CD4+, y CD8+ T en niños con desnutrición proteínico-energética grave. En un ensayo clínico se incluyeron 10 niños con desnutrición primaria grave, menores de 48 meses de edad, quienes recibieron una fórmula sin lactosa por alimentación enteral continua por dos semanas y dos semanas más ad libitum. Se obtuvieron la concentración sérica y celular de IL-2 y las sub-poblaciones de linfocitos CD4+ y CD8+ en los casos y en un grupo control (n = 13). Con la prueba t de student pareada se compararon los valores inicial vs. final de los sujetos y se utilizó la prueba U-Mann-Whitney para la comparación con el grupo control. Se rechazó la hipótesis nula con una p < 0,05. Se observó un incremento notable inicial vs. final en el porcentaje de expresión celular de IL-2 (p < 0,001) y en la concentración sérica de esta citocina (p = 0,001). Por tanto, cuatro semanas de apoyo nutricio intensivo fueron suficientes para mostrar un incremento significativo en la producción de IL-2, independientemente de los nutrimentos involucrados, aunque aparentemente este incremento dependió de la gravedad de la DPE.

Effect of the nutritional recovery on the concentration of Interleukin-2 in severely malnourished children. The severely malnourished child has dysfunction of the immune response that may increase the risk of morbidity or mortality due to infectious diseases, therefore, the purpose of this study was to demonstrate the effect of intensive nutritional support on the cellular and serum concentration of IL-2 and CD4+, as well as CD8+ T cells in children with severe protein energy malnutrition. A clinical assay was carried out in a tertiary care hospital. 10 severely malnourished children < 48 months of age who received formula without lactose via enteral feeding for two weeks and ad libitum for an additional two weeks were included. Cellular and serum concentrations of IL- 2 and the subpopulation of CD4+ and CD8+ were obtained. A control group (n = 13) was included. A paired student t test for initial-final determinations and the Mann-Whitney Test for comparison with control group were used, and null hypothesis was rejected with a p value < 0,05. There was a noteworthy increase in the comparison between the initial vs. final percentage of the cellular expression of IL-2 (p < 0,001) and in the serum concentration of IL-2 (p = 0,001). Therefore, four weeks of nutritional recovery significantly restored the production of IL-2, independently of the nutrients involved in the process, although, the rate of restoration seems to depend on the severity of the children primary PEM.