EFFECT OF DIETARY FATTY ACIDS AND PROTEIN INTAKE ON EXPERIMENTAL TUBERCULOSIS

Abstract

The resistance of CF1 mice to tuberculous infection was increased by dietary administration of a group of fatty acid esters (mixed in proportions simulating coconut oil). Enhanced resistance of mice was manifested as an abrupt decrease in rate of death which occurred 2 weeks or more following injection of Mycobacterium tuberculosis; this increase in resistance did not occur when lard or methyl linoleate replaced the group of fatty acid esters in the diet. With the fatty acid mixture incorporated into the diet, resistance to tuberculosis was greatest in groups of animals which had received rations containing 20% protein. The resistance of mice was not altered by variation in the protein content of the ration from 10 to 40% when lard or methyl linoleate was utilized as the sole source of dietary lipid.