Influence of Dietary Selenium and Vitamin E on the Humoral Immune Response of the Chick

Abstract

Nutritional deficiencies in vitamin E and/or selenium (Se) caused impaired immune function, as measured by the humoral response to ovine erythrocytes by young chicks, but only at low antigen doses. In the 2-week-old chick, both vitamin E and Se were required for optimum immune function; however, at 3 weeks of age, either vitamin E or Se was sufficient for optimum immune function. At this developmental stage, Se appeared to be capable of replacing vitamin E with regard to the immune system. Titrations of dietary vitamin E in the presence of adequate Se and the reciprocal experi- mental regime did not result in immune enhancement. However, the range of concentrations of each factor employed were within nutritional and nonpharmacological levels. In contrast, high dietary Se produced significant immune suppression in male but not female chicks. These data suggest that Se may be an important component of immune function, and its effect is intluenced by antigen concentration, sex, and the ontogenic state.