Effect of Dietary Factors upon the Resistance of Albino Mice to Experimental Infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis

Abstract

Layton, Herbert W. (Northwestern University Medical School, Chicago, Ill.), and Guy P. Youmans . Effect of dietary factors upon the resistance of albino mice to experimental infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis . J. Bacteriol. 90: 958–964. 1965.—Each of the major nutritional components of a synthetic diet was quantitatively altered to determine its effect upon the resistance of albino mice to infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis . The animals were challenged after the first 2 weeks of feeding, and the percentage that survived acute death was determined statistically. The level of protein which provided the greatest percentage of survival was 30%; increases or decreases from this level were detrimental. The optimal fat level was found to be 5% for either corn oil or coconut oil. Survival decreased when greater amounts of oil were added, and this effect was especially marked for 40% coconut oil. Vitamin A enhanced survival when increased from the normal level of 20,000 units per kg of diet to 160,000 units, but further increases were harmful. An amount of 75 g/kg of a vitamin B complex mixture afforded optimal resistance, but 25-g shifts in either direction lowered this resistance. Vitamin K-free diets resulted in high levels of survival, and addition of the vitamin resulted in proportional decreases in resistance.