Effect of short-term protein deprivation on hemopoietic functions of healthy volunteers

Abstract

To ascertain the effects of protein deprivation on hemopoietic parameters in otherwise healthy subjects, three volunteers were placed on diets containing 0.15 g protein/kg body weight for 8 days followed in 2 mo by another 8-day study period during which they ingested their usual diets containing more than 0.9 g protein/kg body weight. Complete blood counts, serum protein determinations, and tests of in vitro and in vivo leukocyte chemotaxis were performed prior to and at the conclusion of each study period. Subjects were phlebotomized of 500 ml on day 7 of each study period. Twenty-four-hour urinary erythropoietin excretion rates were assayed just prior to and again postphlebotomy. Reticulocyte counts were performed at intervals up to 1 wk postphlebotomy. Some of these determinations were replicated during a subsequent study. The hemoglobin and hematocrits decrased slightly but significantly after 8 days on low protein diets. Erythropoietin excretion rates and reticulocyte responses to phlebotomy were also less marked while subjects were on protein depleted diets. Leukocyte chemotaxis, measured both in vitro and in vivo, was also markedly reduced while subjects were on protein-depleted diets. We conclude that 8 days of moderately severe protein deprivation significantly impairs erythropoiesis and leukocyte function in otherwise healthy individuals.

Rapid body mass loss affects erythropoiesis and hemolysis but does not impair aerobic performance in combat athletes

“…The significant correlations between the changes in body mass and EPO concentrations found in the current investigation might point into this direction. However, the present data are not in accordance with studies that have concluded that erythropoiesis is mainly impaired due to protein deprivation (Catchatourian et al., ; Okano et al., ) as plasma concentrations of total protein and albumin were not altered in the combat athletes after RBML. Instead, the present study provides evidence that the erythropoietic suppression was possibly related to the decreases of FT 3 and FAI during RBML.…”

“…() in humans, who lost ∼9% of body mass after a 5‐day survival training including food/fluid deprivation and increased physical stress. In another study, impaired erythropoiesis was found in healthy subjects after a short‐term low‐protein diet (Catchatourian et al., ). The mechanism responsible for the decrease in red blood cell production due to food and fluid restriction is not yet completely understood.…”

Anorexia Nervosa and the Immune System—A Narrative Review

“…However, plasma leukocyte and lymphocyte levels in children with malnutrition are conflicting, likely related to recent or concomitant infection as well as the methodology employed [22,23]. Nonetheless, research suggests that leukopenia is present in human subjects when malnutrition is not associated with other processes such as infection [24,25].…”

Effects of direct exposure to cold weather under grazing in winter on the physiological, immunological, and behavioral conditions of Japanese Black beef cattle in central Japan

“…No parameter except the WBC count differed between the grazing and confined cattle. Blood indices such as the proportion of HCT and the RBC count are generally regulated by nutritional conditions (Catchatourian, Eckerling, & Fried, ; Sasaki, Ohnota, Yanagawa, & Chiba, ). However, the GW cattle were fed the same kind and amount of food as the confined cattle, meaning that the nutritional requirements of the cattle were met in both treatments.…”