Superoxide dismutase activity and blastogenic response of lymphocytes from copper-deficient rats fed diets containing fructose or cornstarch
1989
Babu, U. | Failla, M.L.
Male weanling rats were pair-fed diets containing either fructose (F) or starch (S) and either 7 ppm (+) or 0.7 ppm (-) copper (Cu) for 4-5 weeks. The activity of Cu,Zn-superoxide dismutase in splenocytes, cervical lymph node cells (CLNC) and thymocytes and the copper content of thymocytes were lower in rats fed -Cu diets than +Cu diets. Moreover, these indicators of Cu status were lower when rats were fed -Cu diets with F than with S. T-lymphocyte function was assessed by measuring mitogen-stimulated DNA synthesis in cultures of lymphoid cells incubated in medium containing 2% sera pooled from rats fed either the identical diet (homologous system) or the diet with same carbohydrate but different level of Cu (heterologous system) as the tissue donor. In the homologous system, mitogen-induced DNA synthesis was lower in splenocytes, higher in CLNC, and unchanged in thymocytes isolated from rats fed -Cu diets than in the respective cells from +Cu rats. Mitogenic reactivity was inhibited to a greater degree in splenocytes from rats fed -Cu diets containing F instead of S. There was a tendency for unstimulated cells from -Cu rats to incorporate higher levels of 3H-thymidine than cells from copper-adequate rats. 3H-thymidine incorporation in unstimulated cell from rats fed -Cu diets tended to be significantly different in cultures containing heterologous sera than those in cultures containing homologous sera. In contrast, source of sera did not affect mitogen-induced DNA synthesis. These results demonstrate that the impact of dietary copper deficiency on the function of T-lymphocytes is organ specific and can be influenced by the type of dietary carbohydrate.
Show more [+] Less [-]AGROVOC Keywords
Bibliographic information
This bibliographic record has been provided by National Agricultural Library