Protein deficiency alters impact of intestinal nematode infection on intestinal, visceral and lymphoid organ histopathology in lactating mice.

Protein deficiency impairs local and systemic immune responses to Heligmosomoides bakeri infection but little is known about their individual and interactive impacts on tissue architecture of maternal lymphoid (thymus, spleen) and visceral (small intestine, kidney, liver, pancreas) organs during the demanding period of lactation. Using a 2 × 2 factorial design, pregnant CD1 mice were fed a 24% protein sufficient (PS) or a 6% protein deficient (PD) isoenergetic diet beginning on day 14 of pregnancy and were infected with 100 H. bakeri larvae four times or exposed to four sham infections. On day 20 of lactation, maternal organs were examined histologically and serum analytes were assayed as indicators of organ function. The absence of villus atrophy in response to infection was associated with increased crypt depth and infiltration of mast cells and eosinophils but only in lactating dams fed adequate protein. Infection-induced lobular liver inflammation was reduced in PD dams, however, abnormalities in the kidney caused by protein deficiency were absent in infected dams. Bilirubin and creatinine were highest in PD infected mice. Infection-induced splenomegaly was not due to an increase in the lymphoid compartment of the spleen. During lactation, infection and protein deficiency have interactive effects on extra-intestinal pathologies.