Maternal vitamin E alters passively acquired immunity of chicks

Passively transferred antibody levels were significantly increased in plasma of two- and seven-day-old chicks when the dams were fed 150 and 450 p.p.m. vitamin E prior to immunization with Brucella abortus. However, if the hens were fed 90, 300 and 900 p.p.m. vitamin E before immunization, the chicks evidenced no increase in antibody titers relative to controls. This nonlinear antibody response by the reticulo-endothelial system to vitamin E confirms in Gallus domesticus similar results reported for other species.