Biomaterial Database

Impact of vegetarian diet on serum immunoglobulin levels in children. 2013

Daiva Gorczyca, and Anna Prescha, and Karolina Szeremeta

3rd Department and Clinic of Paediatrics, Immunology and Rheumaology of Developmental Age, Wroclaw Medical University, 51-149 Wroclaw, Poland. daiva.gorczyca@a.m.wroc.pl

BACKGROUND Nutrition plays an important role in immune response. We evaluated the effect of nutrient intake on serum immunoglobulin levels in vegetarian and omnivore children. METHODS Serum immunoglobulin levels and iron status were estimated in 22 vegetarian and 18 omnivore children. Seven-day food records were used to assess the diet. RESULTS There were no significant differences in serum IgA, IgM, and IgG levels between groups of children. Serum immunoglobulin levels were lower in vegetarian children with iron deficiency in comparison with those without iron deficiency. In the vegetarians, IgG level correlated positively with energy, zinc, copper, and vitamin B(6) intake. In the omnivores, these correlations were stronger with IgM level. CONCLUSIONS Despite negligible differences in serum immunoglobulin levels between vegetarian and omnivore children, the impact of several nutrient intakes on IgM and IgG levels differed between groups. Low iron status in vegetarian children can lead to decreased immunoglobulin levels.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007136	Immunoglobulins	Multi-subunit proteins which function in IMMUNITY. They are produced by B LYMPHOCYTES from the IMMUNOGLOBULIN GENES. They are comprised of two heavy (IMMUNOGLOBULIN HEAVY CHAINS) and two light chains (IMMUNOGLOBULIN LIGHT CHAINS) with additional ancillary polypeptide chains depending on their isoforms. The variety of isoforms include monomeric or polymeric forms, and transmembrane forms (B-CELL ANTIGEN RECEPTORS) or secreted forms (ANTIBODIES). They are divided by the amino acid sequence of their heavy chains into five classes (IMMUNOGLOBULIN A; IMMUNOGLOBULIN D; IMMUNOGLOBULIN E; IMMUNOGLOBULIN G; IMMUNOGLOBULIN M) and various subclasses.	Globulins, Immune,Immune Globulin,Immune Globulins,Immunoglobulin,Globulin, Immune
D007501	Iron	A metallic element with atomic symbol Fe, atomic number 26, and atomic weight 55.85. It is an essential constituent of HEMOGLOBINS; CYTOCHROMES; and IRON-BINDING PROTEINS. It plays a role in cellular redox reactions and in the transport of OXYGEN.	Iron-56,Iron 56
D008297	Male		Males
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D002675	Child, Preschool	A child between the ages of 2 and 5.	Children, Preschool,Preschool Child,Preschool Children
D004032	Diet	Regular course of eating and drinking adopted by a person or animal.	Diets
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D000704	Analysis of Variance	A statistical technique that isolates and assesses the contributions of categorical independent variables to variation in the mean of a continuous dependent variable.	ANOVA,Analysis, Variance,Variance Analysis,Analyses, Variance,Variance Analyses