Neuroendocrine-immune interactions associated with loss and restoration of immune system function in spinal cord injury and stroke patients.

Autor: Cruse, Julius, Lewis, Robert, Bishop, G., Kliesch, William, Gaitan, Eduardo
Zdroj: Immunologic Research; Jun1992, Vol. 11 Issue 2, p104-116, 13p
Abstrakt: Both natural and adaptive immune responses were shown to be strikingly decreased in initial blood samples from 34 spinal cord injury and stroke patients. NK-cell function decreased to 24.8% (mean) 2 weeks after spinal cord injury in previously healthy young adults whose control group revealed a mean NK-cell function of 48.7%. This was accompanied at 2 weeks by increased plasma ACTH (mean of 17.0 pg/ml from 17 patients compared to a mean of 11.2 pg/ml from 12 controls) and urine free cortisol levels (mean of 152.1 μg/24 h from 9 patients compared to 53.6 μg/24 h from 15 controls). T-cell function and/or activation decreased to below normal values within 3 months after injury as revealed by lymphocyte transformation that was 32.8% of normal at 3 months. T-cell activation diminished as shown by a mean IL-2 receptor level of 179.3 units/ml in patients compared to 328.2 units/ml in controls. Serial monitoring of NK- and T-cell function revealed that specific physical rehabilitation therapy over a period of 6 months after injury restored NK- and T-cell function to near normal levels in most patients. This improvement was accompanied by a parallel rise in the patients' functional independence measurement scores. Results suggest critical neuroendocrine-immune system interactions in the restoration of immune function. Cortisol levels reverted to normal after 6 months of rehabilitation. Limited data suggest that natural immune system depression, NK-cell function, persists in spinal cord injury patients not receiving rehabilitation therapy (mean NK-cell lysis of 10.3%; p<0.01). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]
Databáze: Complementary Index