Skip to main content
NCBI home page
Annals of Surgery logoLink to Annals of Surgery
. 1988 May;207(5):635–640. doi: 10.1097/00000658-198805000-00018

Biliary secretory IgA levels in rats with protein-calorie malnutrition.

G M Lim 1, G F Sheldon 1, J Alverdy 1
PMCID: PMC1493488  PMID: 3132112

Abstract

Malnutrition is a recognized cause of failure of host defense mechanisms. In the past 5 years, it has been demonstrated that the gut, long known to have significant morphologic changes with protein calorie malnutrition (PCM), is an immune organ affected by malnutrition. To assess the role of biliary immunoglobulin A (S-IgA), part of the barrier to bacterial invasion from the gastrointestinal tract, the following study was performed. Seventy-eight Fisher female inbred rats weighing 110-130 g were randomly separated into two groups. The control rats were fed standard rat chow. The experimental rats were fed a 2% agar protein depletion (PCM) diet (USP XV). The biliary tract of the rat was cannulated with Silastic tubing and bile flow and rat secretory immunoglobulin A (S-IgA) was sampled at intervals. S-IgA was measured by the Elisa method. Total bile protein was measured by micro-Kjeldahl. Bile was collected from the rats on day 0, 7, 14, 21, 29, 36, 42, and 49. During the study, the weight of rats fed the PCM diet decreased from 127.4 +/- 14.5 g at day 0 to 83 +/- 2.6 g on day 37. Control rats gained weight from 124.4 +/- 14.5 g at day 0 to 153.6 +/- 3.8 g at day 37. Total biliary protein at day 0 was 2.52 +/- .05 mg/ml and at day 36 was 2.51 +/- 11 mg/ml for PCM rats and 2.57 +/- 10 mg/ml for control rats. Normal rats and control rats both had an initial increase of S-IgA from 2.74 +/- 73 mg/ml on day 0 to 5.75 +/- 1.75 mg/ml on day 37. Both PCM and control rats demonstrated an increase in S-IgA levels despite significant loss of weight in the experimental group. Similarly, total biliary protein was not decreased in either group. The results suggest that gut immune system is preserved despite significant protein calorie malnutrition.

Full text

PDF
635

Images in this article

638Fig. 1.
on p.638

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Brandtzaeg P. Human secretory immunoglobulins. VI. Association of free secretory piece with serum IgA in vitro. Immunology. 1971 Aug;21(2):323–332. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Freter R. Parameters affecting the association of vibrios with the intestinal surface in experimental cholera. Infect Immun. 1972 Aug;6(2):134–141. doi: 10.1128/iai.6.2.134-141.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Hall J. Lymphocyte recirculation and the gut: the cellular basis of humoral immunity in the intestine. Blood Cells. 1979 Aug;5(3):479–497. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Hall J., Orlans E., Reynolds J., Dean C., Peppard J., Gyure L., Hobbs S. Occurrence of specific antibodies of the IgA class in the bile of rats. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1979;59(1):75–84. doi: 10.1159/000232242. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Heremans J. F. Immunoglobulin formation and function in different tissues. Curr Top Microbiol Immunol. 1968;45:131–203. doi: 10.1007/978-3-642-50109-8_4. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Kudsk K. A., Carpenter G., Petersen S., Sheldon G. F. Effect of enteral and parenteral feeding in malnourished rats with E. coli-hemoglobin adjuvant peritonitis. J Surg Res. 1981 Aug;31(2):105–110. doi: 10.1016/0022-4804(81)90037-8. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Kudsk K. A., Stone J. M., Carpenter G., Sheldon G. F. Effects of enteral and parenteral feeding of malnourished rats on body composition. J Trauma. 1982 Nov;22(11):904–906. doi: 10.1097/00005373-198211000-00003. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Petersen S. R., Kudsk K. A., Carpenter G., Sheldon G. E. Malnutrition and immunocompetence: increased mortality following an infectious challenge during hyperalimentation. J Trauma. 1981 Jul;21(7):528–533. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Stiehm E. R. Humoral immunity in malnutrition. Fed Proc. 1980 Nov;39(13):3093–3097. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Tomasi T. B., Jr, Larson L., Challacombe S., McNabb P. Mucosal immunity: The origin and migration patterns of cells in the secretory system. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 1980 Jan;65(1):12–19. doi: 10.1016/0091-6749(80)90171-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Walker W. A., Isselbacher K. J., Bloch K. J. Intestinal uptake of macromolecules. II. Effect of parenteral immunization. J Immunol. 1973 Jul;111(1):221–226. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Walker W. A., Isselbacher K. J. Intestinal antibodies. N Engl J Med. 1977 Oct 6;297(14):767–773. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197710062971407. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Annals of Surgery are provided here courtesy of Lippincott, Williams, and Wilkins

RESOURCES