Naltrexone suppresses the rejection of cardiac tissue transplantation.
The present study demonstrates the following: 1. Transplantation of cardiac tissue induces an inflammatory response that ultimately leads to the rejection of the tissue by the host within 9 days; 2. Treatment with the opiate antagonist, naltrexone, significantly increased the survival of the transplanted cardiac tissue to 13 days, suggesting the involvement of opioid signaling molecules in tissue rejection; 3. In further experiments it was demonstrated that in mixed lymphocyte populations from different mice, the DNA synthesis inhibitor, mitomycin C, reduced the lymphocyte proliferative response as did naltrexone; 4. Mice injected with naltrexone for 10 days and given concanavalin A exhibited a suppressed spleen lymphocyte proliferative response compared to controls. Taken together, these data suggest that endogenous opioid signals not only activate immunocytes, but also stimulate DNA synthesis.
Department of Physiology, Beijing Medical University, China.
Y F
YF
Li
J X
JX
Wang
L
L
Shao
G F
GF
Ding
E
E
Ottaviani
G B
GB
Stefano
T V
TV
Bilfinger
S G
SG
Fan
D000704:Analysis of Variance; D000818:Animals; D006084:Graft Rejection / Q000276:immunology*; D016027:Heart Transplantation; D006801:Humans; D007959:Lymphocyte Culture Test, Mixed; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000187:drug effects / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D016685:Mitomycin / Q000494:pharmacology; D009271:Naltrexone / Q000494:pharmacology*; D009292:Narcotic Antagonists / Q000494:pharmacology*; D019384:Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors / Q000494:pharmacology; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals
D009292:Narcotic Antagonists; D019384:Nucleic Acid Synthesis Inhibitors; D021382:Protein Sorting Signals; D016685:Mitomycin; D009271:Naltrexone