Abstract
It has been postulated that various kinds of stresses can modulate immunological responses in experimental animals.In order to clarify the relationship between stress and so-called type-I allergic response, we investigated the effects of restraint stress on IgE antibody formation in mice and passive cutaneous anaphylaxis (PCA) reaction in rats and airway reactivity to histamine in guinea pigs.1. Mice were exposed to restraint stress, which was done by rapping the mice tightly with wire nets for 8 hours a day. IgE antibody formation was significantly suppressed in short term stress group which was exposed to the stress for 5 consecutive days prior to immunization, but not effected in the long term stress group which had been exposed to the stress from 5 weeks before immunization to 10 weeks after immunization.2. Rats were exposed to restraint stress which was done by almost the same procedure as that of mice. Two-fold dilutions of antiserum, which contained high titer mouse anti-ovalbumin (OA) IgE, were injected intracutaneously for passive sensitization, and the PCA titer was determined by measuring the maximal dilution giving a positive reaction after injecting OA and evans blue. The PCA titer of stress group was not sinificantly different from control group.3. Guinea pigs were exposed to restraint stress, which was done by rapping the animals with wire nets for 1 hour a time, 2 times a day. Histamine threshold was determined by Mead's apparatus. The airway reactivity to histamine was not different significantly between stress group and control group.Long term restraint stress was not thought to affect the type-I allergic responses in the meaning of enhancing IgE antibody formation, skin reactivity, or air way reactivity.
