Effect of vitamin-A deficiency on plaque forming response of antibody producing spleen cells against Salmonella typhimurium in rats.

Plaque forming response of antibody producing spleen cells against Salmonella typhimurium was studied in vitamin-A deficient and normal rats after 3, 6, 9 and 12 days of injecting the antigen. Vitamin-A deficient rats were found to have significantly decreased (P less than 0.001) number of antibody plaque forming cells in the spleen as compared to normal rats in all cases. Serum total protein and serum Vitamin-A levels were significantly (P less than 0.001) lower in the vitamin-A deficient rats as compared to the controls and immunization caused no significant change in these parameters. The average spleen weights were increased in both the groups on immunization but this increase was comparatively more in case of the control rats.