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Serum Proteins of Germ-free Rats fed Water-soluble Diets

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Abstract

THE germ-free animal with its more controlled environment and reduced reticuloendothelial system has become a valuable tool in microbiological and immunological investigations. In the germ-free rat a deficit in immune proteins causes low levels of serum β- and γ-globulins1. However, the animal is still subject to the variable reticuloendothelial system stimulating factors occurring in the steam-sterilized diets generally used. This communication presents data on serum proteins of germ-free rats fed a chemically defined, water-soluble ‘antigen free’ diet which was filter-sterilized. This type of diet, composed almost entirely of low-molecular-weight compounds and free of material of bacterial origin, should further reduce the level of reticuloendothelial system activity because of the absence of stimulation caused by high-molecular-weight substances and by killed and disintegrated microbial agents.

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References

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Lobund Laboratory, University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, Indiana

    B. S. WOSTMANN, G. B. OLSON & J. R. PLEASANTS

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  1. B. S. WOSTMANN
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  2. G. B. OLSON
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  3. J. R. PLEASANTS
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WOSTMANN, B., OLSON, G. & PLEASANTS, J. Serum Proteins of Germ-free Rats fed Water-soluble Diets. Nature 206, 1056–1057 (1965). https://doi.org/10.1038/2061056b0

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/2061056b0

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