engleski

Immulogical consequences of lesions of nucleus basalis in rats

In this study we followed up the effects of acute (ten days) and chronic (two months) stereotaxic lesions of NB in rats on: 1.) cellularity of lymphatic organs, 2.) humoral and 3.) cellular immunity and 4.) in vitro functional reactivity of splenocytes to polyclonal mitogens. Experiments were done on (AoxDA) F1 male rats, aged 4 months and maintained in standard laboratory conditions. The coordinates for bilateral stereotaxic lesions were taken from atlas of Pellegrino. Electrolysis was performed unipolarly at the anode with 10 mA for 10s. Histological verification of the lesions was performed by the method of Wolf. For the evaluation of humoral or cell mediated immunity standard plaque forming cell assay to sheep red blood cells (SRBC) or transplantation of allogeneic skin were used. The data have shown that bilateral electrolytic lesions of NB cause the prolongation of rejection time to allogeneic skin, transplanted on tenth p.o. (15.8+-0.4 days versus 12.8+-0.5 in intact control, p<.001). Some prolongation of allograft survival was, however, seen also in group of rats in which electrodes were lowered in NB without turning off the electric current, indicating the consequences of mechanical lesions of NB on cell mediated immunity. Humoral immunity tested after sensitization of rats with SRBC, on tenth p.o. was found also to be slightly depressed and followed by depletion of thymus, but the values were on the border of statistical significance. Chronic electrolytic lesions of NB in rats which were not otherwise sensitized, revealed that in comparison to appropriate controls, the cellularity of thymus of NB lesioned rats is higher, while the cellularity of spleen is decreased. Although the tendency of hypoplasia of bone marrow seems to exist, the results are not statistically significant. The data imply that NB is not important only for several behavioural functions but also for mechanisms involved in the maintenance of normal immunological response and composition of lymphoid organs. It is obvious that NB might play an important role in the reestablishment of homeostasis after the initiation of an immune response.

nucleus basalis ; immunomodulation

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