Immune response modulation in the spontaneously hypertensive rat

Abstract

Spontaneously hypertensive male and female rats (SHR) were compared with Wistar/Kyoto (W/K) controls at 15 wk and 80 wk of age. Treatment of the young and old hypertensives with thymosin, fraction 5, lowered the blood pressure within 4 wk of the start of treatment. Following 10 wk of injections, the blood pressures of the hypertensive rats remained at a depressed level for about 6 wk. The thymic hormone raised the depressed spontaneous T-cell rosette formation of the aged hypertensive rat and increased the lymph node T-cell response to the mitogens, Con A and PHA. Thymosin administration over a period of 7 wk increased the size of the aged hypertensive thymus. No similar effect was observed in the W/K. Spleen cell production of prostaglandin E (PgE) was markedly higher in the young hypertensive and immune complex deposition was found in the glomeruli and tubules of the aged SHR kidneys. Thymosin lowered the high level of PgE to normal and decreased the immune complex deposition in the kidney. IgG1 levels were considerably depressed in the SHR as compared to the W/K. Following thymosin administration levels of IgG1 increased 2-fold in both rat strains. Plaque-forming cells from the spleens of the untreated SHR were about 3-fold less than those of the age-matched W/K. Following treatment with thymosin the number of plaque-forming cells of both groups demonstrated a substantial further decrease. Spontaneous hypertension in rats is similar, in certain respects to autoimmune-like diseases in humans with a depression in T-cell activity as well as immune complex deposition; both conditions being altered by exposure to a thymic extract.