The interaction of burn injury and zinc nutriture as assessed by the humoral response to sheep red blood cells in a burn rat model.

Abstract Clinical and animal studies suggest that burn injury induces alterations in zinc metabolism. It also has been established that zinc nutriture can cause alterations in the immune response, but there is a paucity of information concerning the interrelationship between burn injury, zinc nutriture and the immune response. In the present study, rats were subjected to full skin thickness dorsal scald injuries covering 30 per cent of the total body surface and then maintained on sufficient or deficient zinc intake. The rats were immunized with sheep red blood cells (SRBC) on day 6 postburn and killed 4 days later. The spleens were excised and spleen lymphocytes isolated and used in a Jerne plaque assay to determine the number of plaque-forming cells (PFC). The burn/zinc-sufficient regimen significantly increased ( P P