A nucleoside-nucleotide mixture and its components increase lymphoproliferative and delayed hypersensitivity responses in mice

We studied the effect of individual components of a nucleoside-nucleotide mixture on T cell-mediated immunity in BALB/c and DBA/2 mice. Mice were fed for 4 wk a nucleotide-free 20% casein diet (control) or this diet supplemented with 3 mol/kg of one of the following ; inosine, guanosine monophosphate, uridine, cytidine, thymidine, or a mixture of these. In both strains of mice, popllteal lymph node immunoproliferative response to alloantigeneic (C57BL/6 splenic cells) challenge in mice fed the mixture and guanosine monophosphate was greater (P < 0.05) than in the mice fed the control diet. BALB/c mice fed inosine, uridine, and thymidine also showed greater (P < 0.05) responses compared with control fed mice. In the sheep red blood cells challenge assay, foot pad weight-gain in both strains of mice fed the mixture and the individual components supplemented diets was greater (P < 0.05) than in those fed the control diet. In both strains of mice, interleukin-2 secretion by popliteal lymph node lymphocytes in mice fed the mixture and thymidine was higher (P < 0.05) compared with the rest of the groups except BALB/c mice fed cytidine. Significantly higher than control secretions of interferon-γ were observed only in BALB/c mice fed inosine, thymidine and the mixture. We conclude that mice fed the nucleoside-nucleotide mixture and the individual components of the mixture had greater responses in the T cell-mediated immune functions studied and that the responses in mice fed the mixture were not different from those in mice fed the individual components.