NEURAL ASPECTS OF IMMUNE DEFICIENCY

拟议的项目将确定神经免疫相互作用， 自发性高血压大鼠（SHR）具有免疫缺陷 交感神经活动增强 压力和交感神经活动 免疫系统的潜在重要调节剂，可导致 免疫能力下降。 免疫功能不全或免疫缺陷是一种 在艾滋病患者和那些 因为器官移植而导致免疫抑制 在艾滋病患者中， 这是减少艾滋病毒潜伏期的一个因素。 通过更好地理解免疫系统的神经调节， 有可能提高一般人群的健康水平， 还可以帮助艾滋病患者延长潜伏期， 症状的严重程度。 SHR可能是一个有价值的模型， 目的，一旦其免疫缺陷和交感神经支配的免疫 器官特征更好。 拟议项目的目标是：1） 以表征SHR与Wistar相比的免疫缺陷 通过检查京都（WKY）大鼠;淋巴细胞亚群，生成能力 特异性抗体，与外源细胞反应的能力， T淋巴细胞生长因子-白细胞介素-2及脾、胸腺检查 尺寸/组织学。 2)为了描述交感神经支配的特点， SHR和WKY大鼠胸腺和脾脏组织化学观察， 免疫组织化学和放射酶测定方法。 3)以确定是否 交感神经支配和 免疫缺陷的SHR，通过检查的影响， 免疫交感神经切除对SHR免疫功能的影响。 在这次评估中， 将检查免疫功能和脾/胸腺大小以及组织学。 SHR模型可能被证明是有价值的：a）了解神经 诱导的免疫缺陷和B）测试用于增加免疫缺陷的药物功效 在免疫缺陷受试者（即AIDS患者）中的功能。

The proposed project will determine the neuroimmune interaction in the spontaneously hypertensive rat (SHR) which possesses an immune deficiency and an increased sympathetic activity. Stress and sympathetic activity are potentially important modulators of the immune system and can lead to decreased immunologic competence. Immune incompetence or deficiency is an important medical problem seen in both AIDS patients and those immunosuppressed because of organ transplants. In AIDS patients, stress is a contributing factor in reducing the latency period of the HIV virus. Through a better understanding of neural regulation of the immune system, it may be possible to increase the health of the general population and also help AIDS patients by increasing the latency period and decrease the severity of the symptoms. The SHR may prove a valuable model for these purposes, once its immune deficit and sympathetic innervation of immune organs are better characterized. The aims of the proposed project are: 1) to characterize the immune deficiency of the SHR compared to the Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rat by examining; lymphocyte subsets, ability to generate specific antibodies, ability to react to foreign cells, bioactivity of the T-lymphocyte growth factor Interleukin-2 and examine spleen and thymic sizes / histology. 2) To characterize the sympathetic innervation of thymus and spleen in SHR and WKY rats using histochemical, immunohistochemical and radioenzymatic assay methods. 3) To determine if there is a causal relationship between the sympathetic innervation and immune deficiency in the SHR, by examining the effect of immunosympathectomy on the SHR immune function. For this evaluation, immune function and splenic/thymic sizes and histology will be examined. The SHR model may prove to be valuable for both: a) understanding neurally induced immunodeficiency and b) testing drug efficacy for increasing immune function in the immune deficient subject (i.e. AIDS patients).