Journal of Immunology and Immunopathology

To study the effect of battery industry effluent on cell-mediated immune response (CMI) in mice, twoweek-old (256) mice were randomly divided into 4 equal groups namely, control (group 1), vaccinated (group 2), effluent treated (group 3) and vaccine+effluent treated (group 4). Groups 2 and 4 mice were immunised with Ranikhet disease vaccine (R₂b) at every 15 days up to 120 days. Group I was kept as control while group 3 and 4 mice were given battery industry effluent daily orally ad libitum instead of drinking water. Cellular immune response in mice was measured by the lymphocyte stimulation test (LST), total leucocyte count (TLC) and absolute lymphocyte count (ALC). The results showed a significant decrease in lymphocyte stimulation index, total leukocyte count and absolute lymphocyte count leading to suppression of CMI response in battery industry effluent fed mice in comparison to control.