Quantitative effects of nutritional essential amino acid deficiency upon immune responses to tumors in mice

Mice were fed diets deficient in a single essential amino acid, and the primary immune responses to inoculation of allogenic tumor cells was measured by in vitro assay of cellular immunity. Moderate reduction of the amino acids phenylalanine-tyrosine, valine, threonine, methionine-cystine, isoleucine, and tryptophane in the diet produced profound depression of hemagglutinating and blocking antibody responses, although cytotoxic cell-mediated immunity remained intact. These diets had previously been shown to result in a selective depression of tumor growth in mice. Limitation of the amino acids arginine, histidine, and lysine in the diets gave rise to only slight depression of the immune responses. These diets had previously been shown to produce a proportional decrease in both tumor growth and host body weight. Moderate leucine restriction resulted in a paradoxical depression of cytotoxic cell-mediated immunity with little effect on serum blocking activity. Slight increases had previously been noted in the weight of tumors in mice fed leucine-restricted diets. Deficiency or imbalance of essential amino acids in the diet may produce profound depression of immune responses and apparent, marked changes in the immune resistance of the host animal to tumors.