Fish oil-induced yellow fat disease in rats. IV. Functional studies of the reticuloendothelial system.

In rats with "stage S/E" yellow fat disease an injection of colloidal carbon resulted in a marked reduction in the number of circulating platelets. The death rate of rats with experimental Listeria monocytogenes infection, the number of bacteria in their spleens and the decrease of bacteria in their spleens on the days after infection were the same in rats with yellow fat disease as in controls. The fact that the rats died during the first few days after infection also may indicate that their immunological resistance to L. monocytogenes was not altered by yellow fat disease.