Severe @entity3147 is widely distributed throughout the world, showing a high prevalence in developing countries. Experimental animal models have been useful to study the effects of @entity3147 at different levels and ages. Apoptosis is a well recognised process of cell death occurring under several physiological and pathological conditions. It represents the principal mechanism involved in cell selection in the thymus. Thymocyte apoptosis induction by @entity619 is one of the best characterised experimental models of programmed cell death. The aim of the present study was to determine whether severe @entity3147 increased spontaneous and/or @entity619 -induced apoptosis in vivo in thymocytes of experimentally malnourished @entity35 during lactation. Thymocytes were obtained from malnourished @entity35 at weaning (21d of age). Apoptosis frequency was estimated by the terminal transferase-mediated @entity1977 nick end labelling assay. Spontaneous apoptosis was 1.9 (sd 1.0) % in well nourished @entity35 in contrast to 13.3 (sd 3.8) % in malnourished animals; this is seven times greater (P<0.001). Interestingly, the frequency of @entity619 -induced apoptosis was similar in both groups of animals (47.9 (sd 10.1) % in well nourished @entity35 and 53.8 (sd 8.0) % in malnourished @entity35 ). The results obtained in the present study indicate that @entity3147 is associated with a significant increase of spontaneously apoptotic cells. In addition, the data showed that the fraction of thymocytes susceptible to @entity619 -induced apoptosis was similar in well nourished and malnourished animals. The greater levels of spontaneously apoptotic cells associated with @entity3147 could be related to alterations of the microenvironment of the thymus and/or to an obstruction of early thymocyte maturation.

Flow cytometric analysis of spontaneous and @entity619 -induced apoptosis in thymocytes from severely malnourished XXXX .

@entity35 :: ('10116', 'Species') :: ['rats'] @entity619 :: ('MESH:D003907', 'Chemical') :: ['dexamethasone'] @entity1977 :: ('CHEBI:17625', 'Chemical') :: ['dUTP'] @entity3147 :: ('MESH:D044342', 'Disease') :: ['malnutrition']
@entity35 :: (10116,Species) :: ['rats']
