[Morphology of the spleen and immune response in experimental nutritional deficiency in rats]

The author examined 60 white rats of the strain "Wistar" with initial age of four months and body weight of 180--220 gm, subjecter to nutritive deficit regimens with various protein content. He described the morphological changes in the spleen, made a qualitative analysis of IgG and IgM in serum and examined also some links of the immune response after antigen stimulation with human gamma-globulin. Very limited nutrition (5,74 of protein) for 16 weeks caused immune deficit with definite morphological substrate-atrophy and fibrosis of the lymphoid tissue. Moderate limited feeding (11, 48% of protein) did not induce substantial deviations from the functions the immune system.