Nutritional support with nucleotide addition favors immune response in severely malnourished infants.

Background: Adequate nutritional support of severe primary protein energy malnutrition (PEM) is indispensable for achieving normal immune response. However, an ideal dietetic criterion has not yet been established or accepted by the majority of health professionals caring for malnourished infants. Our objective was to demonstrate improvement in immune response in infants with PEM who received starting infant formula with nucleotides.