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Glucans are part of a group of biologically active natural molecules and are steadily gaining strong attention not only as an important food supplement, but also as an immunostimulant and potential drug. This paper represents an up-to-date review of glucans (β-1,3-glucans) and their role in various immune reactions and the treatment of cancer. With more than 80 clinical trials evaluating their biological effects, the question is not if glucans will move from food supplement to widely accepted drug, but how soon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of the study was to evaluate the distribution of body types and severe immune parameters in 15-year-old boys, living in Krasnodar, Stavropol and Nevinnomõsk. 505 boys were involved in anthropometrical measurements and 160 boys for the immune study. The thoracal and the astenoid types were the dominating types of body-build: in Krasnodar (30.5% and 24.8%, respectively, in Stavropol (25.0% and 21.3%), in Nevinnomõsk (32.0 and 19.0%). The muscular and digestive types were found in Krasnodar in 12.6% and 11.4% of boys, in Stavropol 9.0% and 13.3%, in Nevinnomõsk 16.0 and 10.0%, respectively. T-lymphocyte count and the concentration of IgG were below values considered normal for the Russian population. The ratio of T/B lymphocytes was subnormal in Nevinnomõsk, whereas subnormal concentrations of IgA and IgM dominated in Nevinnomõsk and Krasnodar. Convincing evidence for the relationships between body-build and the studied immune parameters were not found. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]