title: The effects of chronic stress on thymus innervation in the adult rat.
abstract: Various stressors induce changes in the immune system. However, it has not yet been analyzed how stressors affect thymus innervation. To examine whether chronic stress alters the morphology of the thymus by changing the nerve components of the thymus, adult male rats, 9-weeks old, were exposed to forced swimming during 21 successive days. The animals were sacrificed by decapitation after the last session and their thymuses were used for analysis of (i) the thymus compartments, (ii) distribution patterns of monoamine-containing nerve profiles and (iii) distribution patterns of acetylcholinesterase (AChE)-containing nerve profiles. Our results show that chronic stress in rats reduces the volume of both thymus cortex and medulla, numbers of thymocytes in the deep cortex and medulla and the density of fluorescent nerve profiles, whereas it increases density of fluorescent cells. The distribution patterns of nerve profiles containing monoamine and AChE were not affected. These changes indicate that chronic stress affects thymus development and T cell maturation by altering the sympathetic nerve component.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Research Center "Branislav Janković", Institute of Immunology and Virology "Torlak", 458 Vojvode Stepe, 11152 Belgrade, Serbia & Montenegro.
authors.forename: Irena
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Zivković
authors.forename: Ana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Rakin
authors.forename: Danica
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Petrović-Djergović
authors.forename: Biljana
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Miljković
authors.forename: Mileva
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mićić
mesh_terms: D000110:Acetylcholinesterase / Q000378:metabolism; D000375:Aging / Q000502:physiology*; D000588:Amines / Q000378:metabolism; D000818:Animals; D002908:Chronic Disease; D008297:Male; D009412:Nerve Fibers / Q000201:enzymology / Q000378:metabolism; D009929:Organ Size; D051381:Rats; D013312:Stress, Physiological / Q000503:physiopathology*; D013550:Swimming / Q000502:physiology; D013950:Thymus Gland / Q000033:anatomy & histology / Q000294:innervation* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000588:Amines; D000110:Acetylcholinesterase