title: Noradrenergic modulation of lymphohematopoiesis.
abstract: Adrenergic agents can affect hematopoiesis after syngeneic bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in mice. In particular, chemical sympathectomy by 6-hydroxydopamine and/or administration of various doses of the alpha 1-adrenergic antagonist prazosin were shown to increase the concentration of blood granulocytes, platelets and bone marrow granulocyte--macrophage-colony forming units (GM-CFU), and to induce a granulocytic hyperplasia of the spleen. Here we show that while enhancing myelopoiesis, prazosin decreased the number of spleen B- and T-lymphocytes as well as the number of thymocytes after BMT. The relative proportion of thymocyte subpopulations was not affected, suggesting a non-corticosteroid related mechanism. Furthermore, NK activity and primary cytotoxic T-lymphocyte (CTL) response to Lancy vaxinia virus was impaired in mice treated with prazosin after BMT. When noradrenaline was added in bone marrow cultures, it decreased the number of GM-CFU and such an effect was counteracted by prazosin. These findings suggest that hematopoiesis is under an alpha-adrenergic control.
authors.affiliation: Center for Experimental Pathology, Istituto Cantonale di Patologia, Locarno, Switzerland.
authors.forename: G J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Maestroni
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conti
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000187:drug effects*; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000187:drug effects; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000187:drug effects; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects* / Q000502:physiology; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009638:Norepinephrine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D011224:Prazosin / Q000494:pharmacology; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D009638:Norepinephrine; D011224:Prazosin