ABSTRACT
The association of nutrition and immunity has been documented by epidemiological data, clinical manifestation, and experimental investigations. These observations have focused mainly on protein-energy malnutrition. Clinicoepidemiology describes malnutrition as both nutritional deficiencies and excesses. Natural killer cell function has been known to be of central importance in host defense via immunosurveillance mechanisms. A standard assay to assess Natural killer activity in splenocytes of dietary animals was performed using 51-chromium labeled YAC-1 tumor cells as the target cells. Cytokines such as gamma interferon (IFN-γ) are vital in many cell-mediated immune responses in addition to their important role in nonspecific defense against infections. Polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs) initiate the sequence of events in response to antigenic stimulus leading to chemotactic and phagocytic events resulting in lysosomal degranulation and intracellular killing of the ingested microorganisms. This chapter presents study to evaluate the effects of dietary nucleotide restriction in the production of cytokine IFN-γ, involved in acute response during infectious pathogenesis.
