Impaired T lymphocyte immune response in vitamin A depleted rats and chicks.
Vitamin A deficiency results in decreased immune responses; the objective of the present study was to investigate the involvement of T lymphocytes in the depression of immune responses resulting from vitamin A depletion. This objective was achieved by evaluating antigen-specific T lymphocyte proliferative responses in vitro as vitamin A depletion developed. The evaluation was performed in both rat and chick to examine the generality of immune effects due to vitamin A depletion. Our findings show that vitamin A depletion led to severe impairment of T lymphocyte activity in both animal models, and that this was directly related to the vitamin A status in both species. Immune response impairment was found to precede other manifestations of vitamin A deficiency, and was rapidly corrected by feeding retinyl acetate boluses. This implied a possible regulatory, rather than constitutive, role of vitamin A in immune responsiveness.
Friedman
A
A
Department of Animal Science, Faculty of Agriculture, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Rehovot, Israel.
Sklan
D
D
D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D002645:Chickens; D000939:Epitopes / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014802:Vitamin A Deficiency / Q000276:immunology*
D000939:Epitopes