Nippostrongylus brasiliensis: A review of immunity and the host/parasite relationship in the rat

Growth measurements and clinical data were obtained from 2,250 children on six Aboriginal settlements In Queensland. Growth retardation affected up to 50% of Aboriginal children aged between six months and three years. Severe retardation occurred in 16% of this age group and was accompanied by anaemia and infection. At two missions where early infant feeding was supervised children showed normal growth patterns, suggesting that Caucasian growth standards also apply to Aboriginal children. Genetic factors influenced growth variations In some areas. Clinical and dietary findings, lower concentrations of nutritional factors in the blood of growth‐retarded children in relation to normal controls, and growth responses following the addition of specific nutrients to the diet, suggested a deficiency of multiple nutritional factors In these children. Commonest deficiencies detected were of iron, ascorbic acid and total calories, but low serum concentrations of albumin, cholesterol, folate and other vitamins were frequently found.

Growth retardation, anaemia and infection, with malabsorption and infestation of the bowel. The syndrome of protein-calorie malnutrition in Australian Aboriginal children.

The daily food intake and related changes in body weight were measured in young rats which were fed on synthetic diets containing 1% (3 experiments), 2% (4 experiments) and 20% (1 experiment) casein respectively. Some rats were infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis and allowed to feed ad libitum , some remained uninfected and were allowed to feed ad libitum while others, which were matched by initial weight with rats from the infected group, remained uninfected and were given only the same amount of food as that consumed during the previous 24 h by their infected partners. No significant differences were detected between the rats before the start of the infection. Thereafter, the food intake of the infected undernourished rats was usually found to be significantly lower and the loss of body weight significantly greater than those of the uninfected rats. In infection periods of relatively long duration, the pair-fed uninfected rats did not lose as much weight as their infected partners even though their food intake (1% and 2% casein) was the same. Although the food intake, and consequently the weight, of infected rats fed on the diet containing 20% casein were significantly less than in their uninfected partners, no significant differences were observed between the weights of the infected and pair-fed rats fed on this diet.

Changes in the food intake and body weight of protein-malnourished rats infected with Nippostrongylus brasiliensis (Nematoda)

Severe protein-calorie deficiency resembling human syndromes (e.g., marasmus and kwashiorkor) has been produced in young pigs by manipulation of dietary protein and carbohydrate levels. These animals show impaired glucose tolerance; increased insulin sensitivity, including hypoglycemia nonresponsiveness; accumulation of glycogen in the liver and deficiency of hepatic glucose-6-phosphatase; normal or raised excretion of urinary corticosteroids. Tissue water content is elevated but fat accumulates only in animals receiving extra carbohydrate. It is suggested that a deficiency of insulin and of thyroid and growth hormones and a consequent relative excess of adrenocortical hormones is characteristic of severe protein-calorie deficiency in humans and experimental animals and explains many of the biochemical changes.

Effects of Severe Protein-Calorie Deficiency on the Endocrine Control of Carbohydrate Metabolism

In this survey of health in Aboriginal children on 12 settlements and missions in Queensland, the reported births and deaths suggest an infant mortality rate six times higher than the Queensland average, with diarrhoeal disease, respiratory infection, and diseases of the neonatal period accounting for 75% of infant deaths.



Children in the post-weaning period showed retardation of growth, anaemia, and frequent respiratory or enteric infection. The prevalence of hookworm infection has, on the evidence of this and other studies, fallen to low levels, but other enteric parasites were common in this age group.



Middle-ear deafness and rheumatic heart disease are major problems of Aboriginal school children. Hepatomegaly of unknown aetiology was found in all the age groups studied.



Laboratory studies showed elevated total serum protein and γ-globulin fractions, elevated erythrocyte sedimentation rates in many asymptomatic children and, in a limited study, a high prevalence of eosinophilia. Marked geographical variation was found in the occurrence of cold agglutinins, and antibody to group A and B arboviruses. Serclogical reactions for treponemal infections indicated a low prevalence in these communities.



General improvement in the health of Aboriginal children and adolescents in the last decade has resulted from control of many diseases, but there are still high morbidity and mortality rates in infants and young children.

C.R.C. Heard

Papers

The contribution of infections to protein-calorie deficiency