Dietary nucleotides reverse malnutrition and starvation-induced immunosuppression.
The requirement of dietary nucleotide sources for maximal helper T-cell function has been demonstrated. The effect of dietary nucleotide restriction was tested during two forms of nutritional stress: starvation and protein malnutrition. In the starvation model, mice were fed chow diet, nucleotide free or nucleotide free supplemented with 0.25% yeast RNA, for at least 4 weeks. The animals were then starved for 5 days, at which time they were killed and mitogen assays were performed using spleen cells. Animals previously maintained on the nucleotide-free diet supplemented with RNA showed a significant increase in spontaneous concanavalin A and phytohemagglutinin-stimulated blastogenesis. Protein malnutrition was induced by feeding Balb/c mice a protein-free diet for 7 to 10 days. These mice then received either the protein-free diet, the nucleotide-free diet, or the nucleotide-free diet supplemented with 0.25% yeast RNA. Popliteal lymph node assays were then performed. The chow diet, nucleotide-free diet, and nucleotide-free diet supplemented with 0.25% yeast RNA led to a restoration of body weight, but only the chow and supplemented diets restored significant popliteal lymph node immune reactivity. These studies using starvation and protein-malnutrition models clearly indicate the nutritional role of nucleotides in the maintenance and restoration of the immune response.
Department of Surgery, University of Texas Medical School, Houston 77030.
R P
RP
Pizzini
S
S
Kumar
A D
AD
Kulkarni
F B
FB
Rudolph
C T
CT
Van Buren
D000818:Animals; D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005260:Female; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009711:Nucleotides / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009748:Nutrition Disorders / Q000276:immunology*; D011488:Protein Deficiency / Q000276:immunology; D012313:RNA / Q000008:administration & dosage; D013217:Starvation / Q000276:immunology*; D015431:Weight Loss
D004040:Dietary Carbohydrates; D009711:Nucleotides; D012313:RNA