K. Fecho et al., Phenotypic and functional assessments of immune status in the rat spleen following acute heroin treatment, IMMUNOPHARM, 46(3), 2000, pp. 193-207
Heroin use is associated with an increased incidence of several types of in
fections, including HIV. Yet few studies have assessed whether heroin produ
ces pharmacological alterations of immune status: that might contribute to
the increased rate of infections amongst heroin users. The present study in
vestigated whether a single administration of heroin to rats produces dose-
dependent alterations in functional measures of immune status and in the di
stribution of leukocyte subsets in the spleen. The results showed that hero
in produces a dose-dependent, naltrexone-reversible suppression of the conc
anavalin A-stimulated proliferation of T cells, Lipopolysaccharide-stimulat
ed proliferation of B cells, production of interferon-gamma and cytotoxicit
y of natural killer (NK) cells in the spleen. Heroin's suppressive effect o
n NK cell activity results in part from a heroin-induced decrease in the re
lative number of NKR-P1A(hi)CD3(-) NK cells in the spleen. Heroin also decr
eases the percent of a splenic granulocyte subset, the CD11b/c(+)HIS48(hi)
cells, whose function currently is unknown. In contrast, heroin does not al
ter relative numbers of CD4(_)CD3(+) T cells, CD8(+)CD3(+) T cells, CD45(+)
B cells, NKR-P1A(lo)CD3(+) T cells, CD11b/c(+)ED1(+) (or CD11b/c(+)HIS48(-
)) monocytes/macrophages or CD11b/c(+)ED1(-) (or CD11b/c(+)HIS48(+)) total
granulocytes in the spleen. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that h
eroin produces pharmacological effects on functional and phenotypic measure
s of immune status. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.