Nutritional Iron Deficiency as a Determinant of Host Resistance in the Rat

Abstract

The response to infection with Salmonella typhimurium was studied at 42 days in rats fed various levels of dietary iron. Rats fed iron-deficient diets after weaning were more susceptible to challenge with S. typhimurium, with the greatest morbidity and mortality observed in the marginally deficient animals. Preweaning fron deficiency decreased the rats' ability to resist the stress of infection, even if a period of nutritional rehabilitation intervened. The iron-deficient rats had fewer myeloperoxidase (MPO)-containing cells in the lamina propria and submucosa. Phagocytes isolated from the peritoneal cavity of iron-deficient rats were as capable of exerting a bactericidal influence on Salmonella in vitro as are cells isolated from iron-adequate animals. Iron-deficient rats appear unable to produce MPO-containing cells in sufficient quantity to withstand the stress of infection.