Water deprivation and food restriction on pulmonary bacterial defenses in mice.

Abstract

Mice deprived of water for 48 hr, mice allowed water but restricted in food intake to equal that consumed by the water-deprived mice, and control mice were exposed for 30 min to an aerosol of Serratia marcescens. Comparison of the number of organisms in the lungs of mice killed immediately after infection and those killed 4 hr later showed a normal reduction over the 4-hr period in the control mice. A significant increase, however, was observed in the water-deprived mice and an even greater increase in the food-restricted mice allowed water. The results did not correlate directly with the lung weight or lung water content. This reduction in bacterial defense could not be assigned solely to either water or food restriction.