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A new familial immunodeficiency disease characterised by recurrent and persistent pyoderma, folliculitis, and atopic dermatitis is described in a father and son. It is accompanied by abnormalities of lymphocyte function (including defective proliferative responses to phytomitogens, and subnormal response in immunoglobulin production after stimulation of the lymphocytes by pokeweed mitogen) and defective leucocyte chemiluminescence responses, which were associated with defective ability for intracellular killing of microbial organisms. The abnormalities of lymphocyte and leucocyte function, as well as the clinical manifestations, responded dramatically to treatment with the histamine-1 antagonist, chlorpheniramine, suggesting that the underlying defect in this disease may relate to defective histamine metabolism or abnormal expression of histamine receptors on lymphocytes and leucocytes.

The effect of zinc deficiency (Zn − ) on the circulating thymic hormone (FTS) levels in A/J mice was studied. After 3 weeks of feeding the mice a Zn − diet, FTS levels were markedly reduced and after 17 weeks, FTS was undetectable. By contrast, the zinc-supplemented (Zn + ) group seemed to maintain FTS levels better than the normal diet group with aging. On the other hand, spleen spontaneous rosette-forming cells (sRFC) were studied for their azathioprine (AZ) sensitivity in A/J mice on different diets. The Zn − mice had fewer sRFC than did the normally fed or Zn + mice. The role of zinc in controlling levels of FTS and thus thymic function is discussed.