[History of immunologic deficiency]

The description of agammaglobulinemia by O. Bruton in 1952 and later clinical studies by R. Good preceeded by sporadic clinical observations on deficits in the immune function associated with hyponutrition, nephrosis and tumors or with inborn errors of metabolism have all made their contribution to the emerging of the concept of immunological deficiency diseases. The clinical-pathogenetic description of immunological deficiency diseases has played a fundamental role in the understanding of the anatomo-functional bases of the immune system and research work on the phylogenetic and ontogenetic evolution of the immune response. Various methodologies, from the idea of experimentum naturae to molecular pathology, combine to define and direct this research, the result of an ongoing interaction between the hospital and the laboratory. This leads to a necessary theoretical-practical synthesis and contributes to the consolidation of an immunologically-directed medicine.