Effects of levamisole on the immune responses of experimentally malnourished rats

Abstract

Levamisole (Ketrax), an anthelmintic drug commonly used in the tropics, has been found to restore the impaired spontaneous rosette-forming lymphocytes and delayed cutaneous hypersensitivity reactions in experimentally malnourished rats. It, however, has no effects on plaque-forming cells. The drug was also found to reconstitute the histologic integrity of the thymus in malnutrition. Speculation: Due to the diminished immune response in malnutrition, mortality usually occurs as a result of superimposed infections like diarrhea and bronchopneumonia. It is speculated that levamisole that potentiates cellular immunity in malnutrition may aid the recovery of children with kwashiorkor and marasmus, particularly those with gastroenteritis and bronchopneumonia. © 1979 International Pediatric Research Foundation, Inc.