title: Immunological activities are modulated by enteral administration of an elemental diet in mice.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Elemental diets (EDs) have been used successfully in treatment of some intestinal inflammatory diseases; however, the mechanism that mediates their effects is still unclear. In this study we evaluated the immunological effect of enteral administration of an ED in mice.
  
  
  METHODS
  C57BL/6 mice were fed an ED (El-Diet) from weaning up to adulthood and immunological parameters were analyzed.
  
  
  RESULTS
  El-Diet-fed mice presented an underdeveloped gut-associated-lymphoid tissue with lower numbers of TCRalphabeta+IELs and lamina propria cells and low levels of secretory IgA when compared to chow-fed mice. They showed a systemic decrease in the production of IgG and IgA as well as a skewing towards a Th2 profile of cytokine production upon in vitro stimulation with an increase in IL-4 and a reduction in IFN-gamma and IL-6 secretion.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our study demonstrated the role of EDs in modulating immunological activities in mice and proposes a rational for their successful use in treatment of some intestinal inflammatory diseases.
authors: Departamento de Imunologia, Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas, Universidade de São Paulo-USP, São Paulo, SP 05508-900, Brazil. jmenezes@tpims.org
authors: Juscilene S
authors: JS
authors: Menezes
authors: Mariléia C
authors: MC
authors: Andrade
authors: Beatriz
authors: B
authors: Senra
authors: Virlânia S
authors: VS
authors: Rodrigues
authors: Nelson M
authors: NM
authors: Vaz
authors: Ana Maria C
authors: AM
authors: Faria