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In General--Nutritional Deficiencies Aid Infection "Deficiencies in various nutrients depress the immune system and increase the body’s vulnerability to infection. Arginine, an essential amino acid, enhances the activity of phagocytes and T-helper cells, while glutamine, an amino acid our bodies produce, is required for the growth of lymphocytes (T and B cells, involved in immune memory and antibody formation.) Beta-carotene stimulates natural killer cell activity. A decrease in vitamin C (ascorbic acid) intake results in decreased T lymphocyte response to infection, delayed skin hypersensitivity (a reaction that shows immune memory cells reacting to an antigen), decreased response by phagocytes (the cells that engulf and degrade invading organisms), and decreased concentration of complement (a complex cascade of chemical events that is the immune system’s first response to attack.) Vitamin D is responsible for the differentiation and maturation of lymphocytes. Vitamin E increases cell-mediated (T cell) and humoral (B cell) immunity when taken as a supplement. It is also a free radical scavenger and increases the number and activity of natural killer cells. When vitamin B6 is deficient, immune cells cannot proliferate. Vitamin B12 deficiency also suppresses the immune system by decreasing the overall number of white blood cells. Zinc deficiency results in a multifactorial immune response decrease, including suppression of the thymus gland. (This is the organ where T cells “learn” to make the correct immune response by differentiating between proteins belonging to the body and those from outside the body.)" --Scrimshaw and San Giovanni 464S-77S; Gay, Raina, MS and Meydani,
Simin Nikbin, DVM, PhD, “ The Effects of Vitamin E, Vitamin B6,
and Vitamin B12 on Immune Function,” Nutrition in Clinical Care
4.4 (2001): 188-98.
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