THE EFFECT OF PERTUSSIS TOXIN AND WHOLE-CELL PERTUSSIS-VACCINE ON HEMODYNAMICS AND AUTONOMIC RESPONSIVENESS IN THE RAT DEPENDS ON ROUTE OF ADMINISTRATION AND AGE

Vaccination of children with Diphtheria, Tetanus, Poliomyelitis and Pe rtussis vaccine (DTPoP-vaccine) containing the whole-cell pertussis co mponent is known to be associated with manifestation of side-effects s uch as acute encephalopathy, convulsions and hypotensive-hyporesponsiv e episodes. In young and adult mts the effects of pertussis toxin and DTPoP-vaccine on haemodynamics and autonomic responsiveness are evalua ted following treatment with high dose via different routes of adminis tration (s.c., i.p. and i.v.). The effect of pertussis toxin is dose-d ependent (between 1 and 20 mu g kg(-1)) and largest responses are obse rved after i.v, administration. At 20 mu g kg(-1), i.v. pertussis toxi n decreases baseline diastolic blood pressure and increases baseline h eart rate by 31% and inhibits autonomic responsiveness (salbutamol-ind uced increase in diastolic blood pressure and arecoline-induced decrea se in heart rate), In adult rats DTPoP-vaccine induces generally more prominent effects than in young rats. In adult rats DTPoP-vaccine redu ces baseline diastolic blood pressure by 25% while no response is obse rved in young rats. In adult rats DTPoP inhibits the adrenergic respon se though less compared to treatment of pertussis toxin. After treatme nt with DTPoP-vaccine (single or twice) only minor differences are obs erved between young and adult mts, present results show that adult rat s are more sensitive to pertussis toxin and pertussis vaccine than you ng mts and that the responses depend on the route of administration. ( C) 1998 Elsevier Science Ltd All rights reserved.