Modulation by zinc of the in vitro antibody response to T-dependent and T-independent antigens.

The influence of zinc on the in vitro antibody response to antigen or mitogen stimulation was studied by adding various concentrations of ZnCl2 to cultures of spleen cells stimulated with sheep erythrocytes, trinitrophenyl-lipopolysaccharide or with the polyclonal B cell activator E. coli lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Addition of ZnCl2 in concentrations ranging from 10(-8) or 10(-7) to 10(-5) M increased the specific antibody response to antigens or the polyclonal antibody synthesis induced by stimulation with LPS, when the response of the assayed population in the control cultures without ZnCl2 was low, as observed in cultures without 2-mercaptoethanol (2-ME).

[Changes in the suppressive activity of splenic lymphocytes of mice induced in vitro by sodium periodate during magnesium deficiency].

Male DBA/2 Mice were kept on a magnesium deficient diet or a control diet. The antibody response of spleen cells, after in vitro immunization with Sheep red blood cells (SRBC) was determined comparatively in the two groups of Mice, from the 19th to the 22nd day of the diet. The effect of sodium periodate treatment on the induction of in vitro antibody suppressor cells was also studies.

Changes in histamine and white blood cells in the blood, spleen and thymus of magnesium-deficient rat.

Groups of rats were given either a control or a magnesium-deficient diet. The well-known allergy-like crisis, characterized by vasodilatation with redness of the ears and dermatosis, occurred spontaneously in the magnesium-deficient groups. The histamine (H) content and the distribution of the various white blood cells (WBC) were studied as a function of time.

Magnesium deficiency allergy-like crisis in hairless rats: a suggested model for inflammation studies.

Two groups of rats, one hairy and one hairless, received either a magnesium deficient diet (4 mg Mg/100 g diet) or a control diet (40 mg/100 g diet). After four days, an easily observable redness of the skin occurred in the hairless deficient group, progressing from the tail to the forehead, and later a hyperemia of the ear and dermatosis which increased with scratching appeared in both deficient groups. The clinical signs were more acute in the deficient hairless group.

Aromatic amines (serotonin and histamine) and magnesium deficiency in the rat.

Rats were made deficient by giving a 4 mg Mg/100 g diet. The control diet content was 40 mg Mg/100 g. Serotonin injected to magnesium deficient and control rats was metabolized at the same rate in both groups and the urinary derivatives were similar.