I. Depressed immunological function in zinc-deprived rats as measured by mitogen response of spleen, thymus, and peripheral blood

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Abstract
The in vitro responses of splenic, thymus and peripheral blood lymphocytes to 2 T[thymus-derived]-cell mitogens (phytohemagglutinin [PHA] and concanavalin [Con] A) and 1 B[bone marrow-derived]-cell mitogen (pokeweed mitogen) were investigated in Zn-deprived and pair-fed control rats. The responses to PHA of splenic, thymic and peripheral blood lymphocytes from Zn-derived animals were depressed by at least 50% in comparison with those of controls, and the difference between the 2 groups was significant for each tissue (P = 0.05). The responses to Con A of splenic and peripheral blood lymphocytes were suppressed in Zn-deprived animals, and splenic and thymic responses to pokeweed mitogen were depressed by about 50% in comparison with those of controls; these results were significant at the P = 0.05 level. This study was the first to evaluate the effects of diet-induced Zn deprivation on lymphocyte transformation and immune function in rats.