Nutrition disorder and immunologic parameters: study of the intestinal villi in growing rats.

Objective: The aim of the present work was to study how a diet in which cereals were the only protein source would affect B and T lymphocytes and a cell population positive for thymus-expressed chemokine (TECK) in the intestinal villi of growing rats.

Methods: Wistar rats were fed a 6.5% precooked maize protein diet for 18-20 d (M group).