[Stimulatory effect of vitamin A on T and B lymphocytes in experimental ascariasis in pigs].

The nonspecific, stimulative effect of vitamin A, applied per os, was studied on the T and B cell population in the course of post-invasive, migratory phase of experimental ascariasis of swine. The vitamin under study was found to exert an activating influence on the level of both immunocompetent cells already in the early phase of invasive process, with the maximum on the 9th, and/or 12th day after invasion. The protective effect of vitamin A, i. e. the effect on the reduction of migrating larvae of ascarids in the lungs, was 50%. This phenomenon is in accord with the present knowledge on the role of this vitamin in immunity.