75. Effect of forced swimming on B and CD4+ T cells of NALT

Abstract

The nose-associated lymphoid tissue (NALT), a compartment located at the base of the nose of some rodents, induces an immune response. Stress causes an increase in the secretion of glucocorticoid and catecholamine hormones by activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis. The aim of this study was to determine the effects of stress by forced swimming on cell populations of B and T lymphocytes, the secretion of IgA, and the production of corticosterone. We used 10-week-old male BALB/c mice divided into a control group and an experimental group. The secretion of IgA in the nasal wash was determined by ELISA, the cell populations of B and T lymphocytes were quantified by flow cytometry, and the corticosterone levels were measured by an enzyme immunoassay. A significant difference of the secretion of IgA in nasal wash was found in stressed mice. Flow cytometry showed that CD4+ T cells increased in the stressed animals in both the NALT and the spleen, the latter organ representing the control system. We conclude that in response to the acute stressor applied in this study, the NALT showed itself to be sensitive, both in its cellular immune response represented by T lymphocytes as well as its humoral immune response represented by IgA, possibly as a result of the influence of hormones secreted during stress. This work was supported by SIP-COFAA-IPN.