Fig. 1.

Experimental protocol. Pre-feedings were carried out for 5 days. After the pre-feeding, rats were divided into two groups, with one group receiving the folate-deficient diet (FAD) and the other the control diet (CON). During the experimental period, the number of total white blood cells, total lymphocytes, neutrophils, eosinophils, and basophils was analyzed using blood obtained from the tail vein in a repetitive manner. At the end of the experiment, the parameters of red blood cells (the number of red blood cells, hemoglobin concentration, and hematocrit) and the number of lymphocyte subsets [T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes, and natural killer (NK) cells] were analyzed using blood obtained from tail vein, and the plasma folate and homocysteine concentrations were assessed using plasma prepared from blood obtained from vena cava