Abstract

In order to determine the duration of the effect of glucose, fructose, sucrose, honey, starch, and orange juice on neutrophilic phagocytosis, 10 subjects underwent a complete series of carbohydrate tolerance tests. Blood samples were drawn at specific time periods following ingestion of 100 grams of each carbohydrate. Blood was then analyzed for glucose and phagocytic index (the mean number of bacteria engulfed per leukocyte); a red blood cell and white blood cell count and differential white cell count were done also on about 1/2 of the samples. In addition, 7 other subjects participated in a fasting study in which no food was eaten for 60 hours.

Blood glucose reached its highest point 30 minutes postprandial, while the phagocytic index had a maximal reduction (approximately 50%) at the 1 and 2 hour interval. Statistical analysis revealed no relationship between blood glucose and phagocytic index, which suggests that for a given subject a change in blood glucose level is not necessarily associated with phagocytosis. These results indicate that some other mechanism may be responsible for the drop in phagocytic index. At the end of 5 hours postprandial the phagocytic index was still significantly lower at 85% of the fasting values. Starch did not reduce the phagocytic index significantly at 1 and 2 hours as did the other carbohydrates.

Changes in the phagocytic index were not significantly associated with changes in the number of white blood cells or neutrophils. This suggests that the number of phagocytes does not determine their capacity to engulf bacteria. Therefore, the observed changes in phagocytic activity may be due to changes in the biochemical behavior of the phagocytes.

Results from the fasting study revealed that no significant change occurred the first day when blood was drawn at intervals corresponding to the time periods following carbohydrate ingestion. This suggests that changes in phagocytic index observed with feeding carbohydrate were due to the ingestion of carbohydrates. The fasting study showed that the phagocytic response is enhanced by fasting, since a significant rise in phagocytic index was observed after 36 hours and the increase was sustained up to 60 hours of fasting.

Department

Nutrition

School

Graduate School

First Advisor

Albert Sanchez

Second Advisor

Benjamin H. S. Lau

Third Advisor

Paul J. McMillan

Fourth Advisor

U. D. Register

Fifth Advisor

Rodney E. Willard

Sixth Advisor

Paul Y. Yahiku

Degree Name

Master of Science (MS)

Degree Level

M.S.

Year Degree Awarded

1971

Date (Title Page)

7-1971

Language

English

Library of Congress/MESH Subject Headings

Phagocytosis; Carbohydrates

Type

Thesis

Page Count

viii; 53

Digital Format

PDF

Digital Publisher

Loma Linda University Libraries

Usage Rights

This title appears here courtesy of the author, who has granted Loma Linda University a limited, non-exclusive right to make this publication available to the public. The author retains all other copyrights.

Collection

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Collection Website

http://scholarsrepository.llu.edu/etd/

Repository

Loma Linda University. Del E. Webb Memorial Library. University Archives

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