Hematological, immunological and neurochemical effects of chronic amphetamine treatment in male rats

Abstract

In the present study, we have analyzed the effect of chronic amphetamine sulfate (AMPH) treatment on haematological, immunological and neurochemical parameters in the male rat. AMPH increased the total peripheral leukocyte count, and altered its differential counts, decreasing lymphocytes and increasing neutrophils. Flow cytometry study showed that the decline in circulating lymphocytes was caused by the loss of a particular lymphocyte subset, B-cell, which reduced both in percentage and in absolute number by 50%. T-cell population increased by 15% but not in absolute number, however there was no difference in either CD4+ or CD8+ T lymphocyte subsets between experimental groups. Neurochemically, AMPH reduced norepinephrine (NE) and serotonin (5-HT) contents in the hypothalamus and increased dopamine (DA) content in the striatum. Chronic AMPH increased in a dose-dependent manner serum corticosterone levels, had no effect on circulating catecholamines, reduced adrenal weights, and did not affect spleen weights although reduced their cellularities. These results show that chronic AMPH have important effects on immune function, particularly on humoral immune response because it reduced the circulating B cell population by half. In addition, AMPH plays an important role in the redistribution and trafficking of leukocytes, and both effects seem to be mediated by sympathetic innervation of the lymphoid organs.