Antibody-producing capacity in man was assessed in various diseases, including chronic bronchitis and infections, after immunization with monomeric flagellin from Salmonella adelaide. For each disease group studied, results were compared with those for controls matched for age and sex and derived from a hospital population with miscellaneous illnesses not affecting the immunological system. A previous study showed that the humoral immune response in disease was less than that in health; in the present study, patients with chronic bronchitis, infections, peptic ulcer, ischaemic heart disease, diabetes mellitus, chronic alcoholism and postgastrectomy states exemplified this general impairment of antibody-producing capacity in disease. Moreover, in chronic bronchitis, infections and multiple myeloma the response to flagellin was significantly more impaired than in other diseases. Explanations for this immunodepression associated with chronic bronchitis and infections were prolonged antigenic stimulation, antigenic competition, or effects of antibiotics; alternatively there may be predisposition to infection in patients with an impaired antibody-producing capacity.
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