ALTERATIONS IN INTERLEUKIN-4 AND ANTIBODY-PRODUCTION FOLLOWING PHEROMONE EXPOSURE - ROLE OF GLUCOCORTICOIDS

We have previously shown that exposure to pheromones from footshock-st ressed mice suppresses cell-mediated immunity and enhances humoral imm unity. Here we show that stress odor exposure is associated with enhan ced antigen-specific antibody production and interleukin (IL)-4 produc tion in BALB/c, but not C57B1/6, mice. Glucocorticoid receptor antagon ism blocks the enhancement of IL-4, but not antibody titers. There is an apparent differential sensitivity of BALB/c and C57B1/6 spleen cell s to in vitro incubation with the synthetic glucocorticoid dexamethaso ne; IL-2 production by BALB/c spleen cells is more sensitive to the ef fects of steroid. These data suggest that C57B1/6 mice may not respond to stress pheromones due to their relative insensitivity to endogenou s steroids.