Effect of magnesium deficiency on interleukin production by Fisher rats: effect of interleukins on reduced in vitro lymphocyte responses to concanavalin A and lipopolysaccharide.

The ability of rats fed a magnesium-deficient diet to produce interleukins (ILs) and the effect of ILs on in vitro lymphocyte mitogenesis have been studied in rats. Lack of magnesium resulted in a lower number of plastic-adherent spleen cells and in a reduction of IL-1 production. IL-2 production was not significantly affected, indicating differential sensitivity of T cells to magnesium deficiency. The diminished mitogenic response of splenocytes to concanavalin A (Con-A) was restored by the addition of IL-1 supernatant, while the addition of IL-2 supernatant and recombinant IL-2 resulted in significantly greater enhancement of proliferation in response to Con-A, compared with that of control spleen cells. The fact that recombinant IL-2 restored the T-cell responses to Con-A indicates that the active factor in the IL-2 supernatant is IL-2.