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.
Li
Y F
YF
Department of Physiology, Beijing Medical University, China.
Wang
J X
JX
Shao
L
L
Ding
G F
GF
Ottaviani
E
E
Stefano
G B
GB
Bilfinger
T V
TV
Fan
S G
SG
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