The Effects of Acute Vitamin A Deficiency on the Immune Response

• Main Authors: Hall,William C, Nielson,Svend W, Heide,Louis van der, Eaton,Hamilton D, Fredrickson,Torgny N
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Subjects: Allografts; B cells; Biochemistry; BONE MARROW; CHICKENS; IMMUNITY; Immunoglobulin G; IMMUNOGLOBULINS; MALNUTRITION; Medicine and Medical Research; MORPHOLOGY; SERUM PROTEINS; STATISTICAL ANALYSIS; T cells; TESTOSTERONE; VITAMIN A

The immune response was evaluated 31 days after broiler chickens were fed diets containing 10, 25, 50, or 100 per cent of the recommended minimum daily requirement of vitamin A. Chickens fed depleted diets had reduced IgG sheep erythrocyte antibody titers 6 days after inoculation compared with both control groups but there was no difference in subsequent samples. IgM antibody titers were not affected. To assess cell-mediated immune status, allogeneic skin grafts were placed on the shanks of chickens consuming the 10 per cent vitamin A ration and on controls. Graft rejection time was significantly delayed in A-deficient versus both control groups but those control chickens fed the same amount of diet as deficient chickens also had extended rejection times. Thus, vitamin A deficiency appeared to have depressed both humoral and cell-mediated immune responses. In this experiment morphologic examination of lymphoid organs revealed extensive changes only in chickens consuming the 10 per cent vitamin A ration.