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Updated: May 20, 2026
Measuring Granulocyte and Monocyte Phagocytosis and Oxidative Burst Activity in Human Blood
Published on: September 12, 2016
Effects of malnutrition on oxidative burst functions and infection episodes in children with acute lymphoblastic
F B Cakir1, G Aydogan2, C Timur3
1Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Department, Bezmialem Vakif University Hospital, Istanbul, Turkey.
Insights
Malnutrition did not overtly affect neutrophil oxidative burst functions (OBF) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). OBF improved with treatment in both malnourished and well-nourished ALL patients, suggesting nutritional status may not be a primary factor in OBF changes during leukemia treatment.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Oncology
- Immunology
- Hematology
Background:
- Children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) often experience malnutrition.
- Neutrophil oxidative burst function (OBF) is crucial for fighting infections.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the impact of malnutrition on neutrophil OBF in pediatric ALL patients.
- To compare OBF between malnourished and well-nourished ALL patients and healthy controls.
Main Methods:
- Studied neutrophil OBF in 28 ALL patients (13 malnourished) and 30 healthy controls.
- Measurements were taken before and after chemotherapy (or nutritional improvement for malnourished group).
Main Results:
- Neutrophil OBF were significantly lower in ALL patients (both malnourished and not) compared to controls before chemotherapy.
- No significant difference in OBF was observed between malnourished and well-nourished ALL patients.
- Neutrophil OBF increased to normal levels in both ALL groups by 3 months of chemotherapy.
Conclusions:
- Malnutrition did not demonstrate an overt effect on neutrophil OBF in pediatric ALL.
- Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm these findings on OBF in leukemic children with varying nutritional status.
Introduction:
The aim of this study was to determine the effect of malnutrition on oxidative burst functions (OBF) of neutrophils in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL).
Materials And Methods:
Twenty-eight patients with ALL and thirty healthy controls were enrolled to the study. Thirteen patients with ALL were found to have malnutrition. While neutrophil OBF of ALL patients without malnutrition were studied both before induction chemotherapy and 3 months after, the same functions in ALL patients with malnutrition were studied both before induction chemotherapy and when the nutritional status improved. Control group were studied at admission and 3 months later.
Results:
The OBF of ALL patients with and without malnutrition before induction chemotherapy were found to be significantly lower than the control group (P = 0.009), whereas the OBF were found to be similar in both patient groups with ALL (P = 0.27). The median infection episode rate and the duration of antibiotics therapy during the study period were similar in both patient groups with ALL. The repeated OBF of both patient groups with ALL were shown to increase to similar values with the control group in the third month of chemotherapy (P = 0.002). The median infection episode rate during the first month of chemotherapy was shown to decrease significantly during the third month of chemotherapy in both patient with ALL groups (P < 0.001).
Conclusions:
We have not been able to demonstrate an overt effect of malnutrition on OBF. However, our results still need to be verified via further larger scaled studies of OBF in leukemic children with and without malnutrition.
