Immune and neuroendocrine response to restraint in male and female rats.
A parallel study of the modification in the opioid and immunological systems induced by acute restraint (RT) was carried out in male and female rats 24 hr after the treatment. beta-Endorphin-like immunoreactivity (beta-ELI) was measured in two brain areas (ventral hypothalamus [HYP] and periaqueductal gray matter [PAG]) and in the pituitary (anterior and neurointermediate lobes), together with plasma corticosterone (C) and ACTH. Immune function was measured as mitogen-induced Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) production by splenocytes. RT reduced beta-ELI levels in the PAG in males and females. Plasma levels of C and ACTH did not differ from the basal levels in restrained animals. RT reduced IFN-gamma production in both sexes, but this effect was more marked in females than in males. The possible relationship between the immune and opioid system is discussed.
Istituto di Fisiologia Umana, Università di Siena, Italy.
F
F
Farabollini
M E
ME
Albonetti
A M
AM
Aloisi
F
F
Facchinetti
G
G
Grasso
L
L
Lodi
C
C
Lupo
M
M
Muscettola
D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone / Q000502:physiology*; D000818:Animals; D001143:Arousal / Q000502:physiology*; D003345:Corticosterone / Q000502:physiology*; D005239:Fear / Q000502:physiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007031:Hypothalamus / Q000502:physiology; D007108:Immune Tolerance / Q000276:immunology; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000096:biosynthesis*; D008297:Male; D010487:Periaqueductal Gray / Q000502:physiology; D011598:Psychoneuroimmunology; D051381:Rats; D017208:Rats, Wistar; D012149:Restraint, Physical; D012737:Sex Factors; D001615:beta-Endorphin / Q000502:physiology*
D001615:beta-Endorphin; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D000324:Adrenocorticotropic Hormone; D003345:Corticosterone