Remarkably, thymocytes from the different animal groups did not exhibit changes in the chemotactic migration index, neither when exposed to CXCL12 nor IGF1 (Fig. 5B), reinforcing the observation that malnutrition has a deleterious effect on the thymic microenvironment, mostly on the production and secretion of chemokines, instead of affecting T cell migratory capabilities per se. The gene discussed is CXCL12; the disease is nutritional deficiency disease.