PROTEIN-MALNUTRITION - EFFECT ON MYELOID CELL PRODUCTION AND MOBILIZATION INTO INFLAMMATORY REACTIONS IN MICE

The effect of a low protein diet on mobilization of inflammatory cells into injured tissues was studied using the experimental murine model of subcutaneous glass implants. We observed an impaired mobilization of mononuclear and polymorphonuclear phagocytes into the injury site in undernourished mice, reflecting apparently a low availability of inflammatory cells at the systemic level. Analysis of bone marrow and blood leukograms has shown that the mobilization of blood leukocytes into the lesions was not compensated by their production and release from the bone marrow. Cultures of bone marrow cells in the presence of plasma obtained from undernourished animals showed that the stimulatory factors for proliferation of early precursors of myeloid lineages were present in normal or increased levels. The full maturation and release of myeloid cell lineages was delayed. The impaired production of myeloid cells in undernourished animals does not appear to be a consequence of a general insufficient protein availability, but reflects specific modifications of the stimulatory factors that control proliferation, differentiation and release of leukocytes from the bone marrow.