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The Effect of Vitamin A Deficiency on the in Vitro Cellular Immune Response of Rats^1,2,

Department of Nutrition and Food Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02139

The effect of vitamin A deficiency on the response of splenic lymphocytes to mitogenic stimulation was determined in an experimental rat model. Male Lewis rats were divided into three groups. The ad libitum group (AL) was fed unlimited amounts of a vitamin A-supplemented diet. The vitamin A-deficient group (DEF) received a commercial vitamin A-free diet. The pair-fed group (PF) received a vitamin A-containing diet equivalent in amount to that consumed by the DEF group. During the early stages of vitamin A deficiency (determined by cessation of weight gain), the rats were killed and the isolated splenic lymphocytes subjected to mitogenic stimulation. Lymphocytes from DEF rats had one–third the transformation response to the mitogens Concanavalin A, phytohemagglutinin and E. coli Lipopolysaccharide S of the AL and PF groups. When the DEF rats were supplemented with vitamin A, the transformation response returned to control values within 3 days. In addition to the alterations in the immune response, the DEF rats showed a marked leukopenia, a decrease in the number of circulating lymphocytes and an increase in the number of circulating neutrophils.

KEY WORDS: • vitamin A deficiency • vitamin A repletion • mitogens • immunocompetence • leukopenia

¹ Supported in part by NIH Grant No. RR-88.

² Selected portions of this paper have been presented at the 1978 Meeting of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Nauss, K. M., Mark, D. A. & Suskind, R. S., Effect of Vitamin A Deficiency on the Cell-Mediated Immune (CMI) Response FASEB Abstracts 37, 485, #1436, 1978.

³ Present address: Department of Pediatrics, University of South Alabama, 2451 Fillingim Street, Mobile, Alabama 36617.

Manuscript received 31 August 1978.