Transient B cell immaturity with intractable diarrhoea: A possible new immunodeficiency syndrome

A male boy is described, who suffered from an intractable diarrhoea and several infections and who died in a severe marasmic state at the age of 8 months. Immunological studies revealed a block in the normal differentiation of B cells to Ig‐producing plasma cells. After the age of 5 months, however, this block disappeared, leading to a dramatic increase in circulating Ig, most pronounced in the IgM class. In the intestine, plasma cells could...