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Undernutrition, Starvation and Phagocytosis¹

Three Figures

Department of Physiology College of Medicine, University of Illinois, Chicago

Experiments on the effect of acute starvation and chronic undernutrition were carried out in rats and the influence of these conditions on the phagocytosis promoting power of the serum was investigated. It was found that acute starvation produces a definite tendency toward a progressive decrease in phagocytic index in correlation with loss in weight. There were, however, a number of animals with an increase in phagocytic index probably due to the occurrence of acute infections from which we lost many animals.

In experiments with chronic undernutrition in which the animals were fed only every second or third day during a period varying between 25 and 42 days, it was found that when the loss in body weight was greater than about 38% a considerable decrease in phagocytic index occurred.

Experiments carried out on growing rats, in which the standard diet was fed every second or third day so that no growth occurred during the period of 4 weeks, did not show any change in phagocytic index.

In view of the fact that chronic undernutrition lowers the phagocytic index only when the loss of body weight is about 38% or more the results obtained in a preceding paper showing that during a prolonged period of lack of vitamin A in the food the phagocytic index is decreased, must be considered to be due to the lack of vitamin A and not to loss in body weight.

Manuscript received 22 January 1937.