title: Prevention of graft-vs-host reaction induced immunodeficiency by treatment with splenopentin (DAc-SP5).
abstract: Early experiments had shown that splenopentin, the active part of the splenic hormone splenin, stimulates the differentiation of virgin B- and T-lymphocytes and significantly enhanced the reconstitution of immune reactions after immune suppression. The present study investigates the influence of splenopentin on the course of the graft-vs-host reaction (GVHR). The experimental model used were adult hybrid mice which received intravenously parental spleen cells. During the GVHR which has an chronical course in the strain combinations used a short stimulatory phase is followed by a long-lasting immunosuppression detected by antibody formation against sheep erythrocytes. Furthermore, the splenomegaly in the first weeks after spleen cell injection changed to a drastic decrease of the spleen weight up to strongly beyond normal values. Continuous treatment with splenopentin significantly prevented both symptoms of the GVHR: The suppression of the antibody formation was diminished widely, and no loss of spleen weight occurred. Furthermore, during the stimulatory phase anti-DNA-autoantibodies were produced in the untreated animals, while the splenopentin therapy prevented this reaction. During the further course of the experiment no increase of autoantibody production was detected later on.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Medical Immunology, Humboldt University, Berlin.
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Eckert
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: Volk
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Diezel
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Maciewski
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Hiepe
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Forner
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: von Baehr
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear / Q000096:biosynthesis; D006087:Graft vs Host Reaction / Q000187:drug effects*; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000187:drug effects*; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D010446:Peptide Fragments / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013946:Thymopoietins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013951:Thymus Hormones / Q000494:pharmacology*
chemical_list: D000974:Antibodies, Antinuclear; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D013946:Thymopoietins; D013951:Thymus Hormones; C041898:splenopentin