Triiodothyronine Improves the Primary Antibody Response to Sheep Red Blood Cells in Severely Undernourished Weanling Mice 1

Abstract

Abstract

Three experiments were conducted in which weanling mice were fed a nutritionally complete diet either ad libitum or in restricted quantities such that they lost about 30% of their initial weight over a 14-day period. In Experiments 1 and 2, half the animals from each group received dietary triiodothyronine (T₃) supplements. In Experiment 3, food-intake-restricted mice were fed graded levels of potassium iodide. Malnutrition reduced the number of nucleated cells per spleen, the number of splenic IgG plaque-forming cells (PFC) per 10⁶ cells, and the serum antibody titers against sheep red blood cells. T₃ supplements increased antibody titers, the number of nucleated cells per spleen, and both IgM and IgG PFC per 10⁶ spleen cells in malnourished mice, but had no effect on well-nourished mice. The beneficial effect of T₃ was not a result of improved protein, energy, or iodine status in the malnourished mice.