concanavalin-a and Nutrition-Disorders

To evaluate the influence of chronic alcohol consumption on the cellular immune system in man, we investigated the immune response to seven intradermally applied common antigens and in vitro stimulation of peripheral lymphocytes by Phytohemagglutinin A and concanavalin A in chronic alcoholics with (n = 15) and without (n = 15) liver disease. The results suggest that the diminished cellular immune response in chronic alcoholics is not primarily a direct sequel to alcohol consumption; it is more likely that the impaired immune response is linked to severity of the liver damage itself and to malnutrition.

Topics: Adult; Aged; Alcoholism; Concanavalin A; Female; Humans; Immunity, Cellular; Intradermal Tests; Liver Diseases, Alcoholic; Lymphocyte Activation; Male; Middle Aged; Nutrition Disorders; Phytohemagglutinins

Functional immune changes were monitored in populations of the long-lived C57BL/6J strain of mice which were subjected to dietary restriction from time of weaning or subjected to such restriction both before and after weaning, along with the appropriate control populations. Responses to T and B cell mitogens (PHA, Con-A, pokeweed, bacterial lipopolysaccharide, and PPD), to injected sheep red blood cells, and measurement of skin allograft rejection rates were followed. Early in life, restricted mice appear immunosuppressed, as judged by all these parameters. Skin allograft rejection remained suppressed until relatively late in life. Other responses tended to reverse from the earlier pattern; by mid-life restricted mice responded better than controls. Dietary restriction profoundly affects the immune system. Mice on such regimes display anatomic and certain immune functional changes which suggest that the immune system may mature less rapidly and stay "younger" longer than in the controls. Furthermore, dietary restriction results in prolongation of life span.

Topics: Animals; Body Weight; Concanavalin A; Diet; Dietary Proteins; Female; Hemolytic Plaque Technique; Immunity; Lectins; Life Expectancy; Lipopolysaccharides; Male; Mice; Mice, Inbred A; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Mitogens; Nutrition Disorders; Nutritional Requirements; Organ Size; Skin Transplantation; Spleen; T-Lymphocytes; Thymectomy; Transplantation, Homologous