title: Dietary polyunsaturated fatty acids alter lymphocyte subset proportion and proliferation, serum immunoglobulin G concentration, and immune tissue development in chicks.
abstract: The effects of fat source on immune response of the offspring of the Single Comb White Leghorn laying hens were investigated. The laying hens were fed for 6 wk with a wheat-soybean meal basal diet with added sunflower oil (SO), animal oil (AO), linseed oil (LO), or menhaden fish oil (FO) at 5% (wt/wt). Upon hatching, the chicks (30/group) were given the same types of diets for 8 wk. The dietary SO, AO, and LO provided different n-6 to n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA) ratios. The FO and LO had ratios of n-6 to n-3 PUFA that were close but had different components of n-3 PUFA. The results demonstrated that the chicks fed LO or FO had significantly lower (P < 0.05) splenocyte proliferative response to ConA than the chicks fed SO or AO at either 4 wk or 8 wk of age, with a stronger (P < 0.05) suppressive effect produced by LO at 4 wk. A significantly lower (P < 0.05) splenocyte response to PWM was produced by the chicks fed AO, LO, and FO compared with the chicks fed SO at 8 wk. The thymus lymphocyte proliferation in response to ConA at 4 wk was lower (P < 0.05) in the chicks fed AO, LO, and FO than in the chicks fed SO. Both LO and FO elevated (P < 0.05) the proportion of IgM+ lymphocytes in spleen, but only FO increased (P < 0.05) the serum IgG concentration. The LO elevated (P < 0.05) the percentage of CD8+ T-lymphocytes but not the ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ cells (P > 0.05) in spleen. Growths of thymus, spleen, and bursa were impacted significantly (P < 0.05) by the amount of dietary PUFA, the ratio of n-6 to n-3 fatty acids, and n-3 PUFA components.
authors.affiliation: Department of Agricultural, Food and Nutritional Science, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada.
authors.forename: Y W
authors.initials: YW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.forename: C J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Field
authors.forename: J S
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Sim
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D002060:Bursa of Fabricius / Q000254:growth & development; D002455:Cell Division; D002645:Chickens / Q000276:immunology*; D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007074:Immunoglobulin G / Q000097:blood*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D016131:Lymphocyte Subsets; D009929:Organ Size; D010641:Phenotype; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000166:cytology / Q000254:growth & development
chemical_list: D004042:Dietary Fats, Unsaturated; D005231:Fatty Acids, Unsaturated; D007074:Immunoglobulin G