tetano
Editor, Senior Moderator
Mol Med. 2014 Mar 27. doi: 10.2119/molmed.2013.00158. [Epub ahead of print]
Environmental enrichment alters splenic immune cell composition and enhances secondary influenza vaccine responses in mice.
Gurfein BT1, Davidenko O2, Premenko-Lanier M3, Milush JM3, Acree M4, Dallman MF5, Touma C6, Palme R7, York VA3, Fromentin G8, Darcel N2, Nixon DF3, Hecht FM4.
Author information
Abstract
Chronic stress has deleterious effects on immune function, which can lead to adverse health outcomes. However, studies investigating the impact of stress reduction interventions on immunity in clinical research have yielded divergent results, potentially stemming from differences in study design and genetic heterogeneity, among other clinical research challenges. To test the hypothesis that reducing glucocorticoid levels enhances certain immune functions, we administered influenza vaccine once (prime) or twice (boost) to mice housed in either standard control caging or environmental enrichment (EE) caging, an approach we have shown reduces mouse corticosterone production. Compared with controls, EE mice had significantly lower levels of fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM) and increased splenic B and T lymphocyte numbers. Corticosterone levels were negatively associated with the numbers of CD19+ (r2=0.43, p=0.0017), CD4+, (r2=0.28, p=0.0154) and CD8+ cells (r2=0.20, p=0.0503). Vaccinated mice showed non-significant differences in IgG titer between caging groups, although EE mice tended to exhibit larger increases in titer from prime to boost than controls; the interaction between caging group (control vs. EE) and vaccine group (prime vs. boost) showed a strong statistical trend (Cage-Group*Vaccine-Group, F=4.27, p=0.0555), suggesting that there may be distinct effects of EE caging on primary versus secondary IgG vaccine responses. Vaccine-stimulated splenocytes from boosted EE mice had a significantly greater frequency of IL-5 secreting cells than boosted controls (Meandiff 67.7 IL-5 SFU/106 splenocytes, CI95 0.24 to 135.1, p=0.0493), and showed a greater increase in the frequency of IL-5 secreting cells from prime to boost. Our results suggest that corticosterone reduction via EE caging was associated with enhanced secondary vaccine responses, but had little effect on primary responses in mice. These findings help identify differences in primary and secondary vaccine responses in relationship to stress mediators that may be relevant in clinical studies.
PMID:
24687160
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Free full text
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24687160
Environmental enrichment alters splenic immune cell composition and enhances secondary influenza vaccine responses in mice.
Gurfein BT1, Davidenko O2, Premenko-Lanier M3, Milush JM3, Acree M4, Dallman MF5, Touma C6, Palme R7, York VA3, Fromentin G8, Darcel N2, Nixon DF3, Hecht FM4.
Author information
Abstract
Chronic stress has deleterious effects on immune function, which can lead to adverse health outcomes. However, studies investigating the impact of stress reduction interventions on immunity in clinical research have yielded divergent results, potentially stemming from differences in study design and genetic heterogeneity, among other clinical research challenges. To test the hypothesis that reducing glucocorticoid levels enhances certain immune functions, we administered influenza vaccine once (prime) or twice (boost) to mice housed in either standard control caging or environmental enrichment (EE) caging, an approach we have shown reduces mouse corticosterone production. Compared with controls, EE mice had significantly lower levels of fecal corticosterone metabolites (FCM) and increased splenic B and T lymphocyte numbers. Corticosterone levels were negatively associated with the numbers of CD19+ (r2=0.43, p=0.0017), CD4+, (r2=0.28, p=0.0154) and CD8+ cells (r2=0.20, p=0.0503). Vaccinated mice showed non-significant differences in IgG titer between caging groups, although EE mice tended to exhibit larger increases in titer from prime to boost than controls; the interaction between caging group (control vs. EE) and vaccine group (prime vs. boost) showed a strong statistical trend (Cage-Group*Vaccine-Group, F=4.27, p=0.0555), suggesting that there may be distinct effects of EE caging on primary versus secondary IgG vaccine responses. Vaccine-stimulated splenocytes from boosted EE mice had a significantly greater frequency of IL-5 secreting cells than boosted controls (Meandiff 67.7 IL-5 SFU/106 splenocytes, CI95 0.24 to 135.1, p=0.0493), and showed a greater increase in the frequency of IL-5 secreting cells from prime to boost. Our results suggest that corticosterone reduction via EE caging was associated with enhanced secondary vaccine responses, but had little effect on primary responses in mice. These findings help identify differences in primary and secondary vaccine responses in relationship to stress mediators that may be relevant in clinical studies.
PMID:
24687160
[PubMed - as supplied by publisher]
Free full text
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24687160