Effect of food-restriction stress on immune response in mice.

Daily 23-h food deprivation for 1-5 days induced gastric ulcers and atrophic changes of the spleen and thymus, accompanied by a rise in plasma cortisol and catecholamine levels in mice. It also modulated several immune cell functions in the spleen including a drop in the B cell population but no change in the mitogen response of the B cells, an increase in T cell population but no change in the L3T4/Lyt2 ratio and an early increase in natural killer activity and O2- production by macrophages. These effects are thought to correlate to the increase in stress-associated humoral factors and this may partly result from stress induced by food restriction.