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Research Article Free access | 10.1172/JCI105656

Intestinal Lymphangiectasia: a Protein-Losing Enteropathy with Hypogammaglobulinemia, Lymphocytopenia and Impaired Homograft Rejection

W. Strober, R. D. Wochner, P. P. Carbone, and T. A. Waldmann

Metabolism Branch and the Medicine Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

‡

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Warren Strober. Metabolism Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. 20014.

*

Received for publication 17 March 1967 and in revised form 10 May 1967.

Presented in part at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Atlantic City, N. J., 1 May 1966; published in abstract form in J. Clin. Invest. 1966, 45: 1077.

Find articles by Strober, W. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Metabolism Branch and the Medicine Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

‡

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Warren Strober. Metabolism Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. 20014.

*

Received for publication 17 March 1967 and in revised form 10 May 1967.

Presented in part at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Atlantic City, N. J., 1 May 1966; published in abstract form in J. Clin. Invest. 1966, 45: 1077.

Find articles by Wochner, R. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Metabolism Branch and the Medicine Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

‡

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Warren Strober. Metabolism Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. 20014.

*

Received for publication 17 March 1967 and in revised form 10 May 1967.

Presented in part at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Atlantic City, N. J., 1 May 1966; published in abstract form in J. Clin. Invest. 1966, 45: 1077.

Find articles by Carbone, P. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Metabolism Branch and the Medicine Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland

‡

Address requests for reprints to Dr. Warren Strober. Metabolism Branch, National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Md. 20014.

*

Received for publication 17 March 1967 and in revised form 10 May 1967.

Presented in part at the 58th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, Atlantic City, N. J., 1 May 1966; published in abstract form in J. Clin. Invest. 1966, 45: 1077.

Find articles by Waldmann, T. in: PubMed | Google Scholar

Published October 1, 1967 - More info

Published in Volume 46, Issue 10 on October 1, 1967
J Clin Invest. 1967;46(10):1643–1656. https://doi.org/10.1172/JCI105656.
© 1967 The American Society for Clinical Investigation
Published October 1, 1967 - Version history
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Abstract

Intestinal lymphangiectasia is a disease characterized by dilated intestinal lymphatics, protein-losing enteropathy, hypoalbuminemia, and edema. The immunologic status of 18 patients with intestinal lymphangiectasia was studied. Concentrations of IgG, IgA, and IgM were measured by immune precipitation and metabolism of these three immunoglobulins was studied using purified radioiodinated proteins. The serum concentration and total body pool of each immunoglobin were greatly reduced. The fraction of the intravascular protein pool catabolized per day was increased to 34% for IgG, 59% for IgA, and 66% for IgM; these are in contrast with control values of 7%, 28%, and 17%, respectively. Synthetic rates of the immunoglobulins were normal or slightly increased.

Primary circulating antibody response was tested in five patients with Vi and tularemia antigens. Titers elicited in patients with the Vi antigen were significantly lower than those seen in a control group, whereas no difference was seen between patient and control responses to the tularemia antigen.

Lymphocytopenia was noted in patients with intestinal lymphangiectasia. The mean circulating lymphocyte count was 710 ± 340/mm3 in contrast to 2500 ± 600/mm3 in controls. Cellular hypersensitivity was studied with skin tests and skin grafts. 91% of normal individuals reacted to at least one of the four skin test antigens: purified protein derivative, mumps, Trichophyton, and Candida albicans; in contrast, only 17% of patients with intestinal lymphangiectasia had a positive reaction. Each of three patients tested with dinitrochlorobenzene had a negative reaction. Finally, all four patients who received skin homografts have retained these grafts for at least 12 months. The immunological disorders in patients with intestinal lymphangiectasia appear to result from loss of immunoglobulins and lymphocytes into the gastrointestinal tract secondary to disorders of lymphatic channels. Lymphocyte depletion then leads to skin anergy and impaired homograft rejection.

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