Protein deprivation causes reversible impairment of mucosal immune response to cholera toxoid/toxin in rat gut

Secretory antibodies may be the major defence against mucosal infections, especially those due to viruses and non-invasive pathogens such as Vibrio cholerae and toxinogenic Escherichia coli . The high incidence of mucosal infections in malnourished protein-deficient children 1 may result from defective antibody production 2 , but evidence for this is conflicting 3 . We report here that protein deficiency markedly impairs the mucosal immune response to cholera toxoid/toxin (CT), a protein antigen, in rats and that this impairment is rapidly reversed by refeeding.