Morgulis Maria Sílvia F A, Stankevicius Daniel, Sá-Rocha Luiz Carlos, Palermo-Neto João
Department of Pathology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil.
Neuroimmunomodulation. 2004;11(1):49-57. doi: 10.1159/000072969.
The present study analyzed the effects of cohabitation for 11 days with a sick cage mate on behavior and Ehrlich tumor growth in mice. Pairs of female mice were divided into one control and one experimental group. One mouse of each control pair was kept undisturbed and called 'healthy companion' (HC). One animal of each experimental pair of mice was inoculated (i.p.) with 5 x 10(6) Ehrlich tumor cells, and the other, the object of this study, was called 'sick companion' (SC). The SC mice presented: (1) increased activity in an open field, (2) increased number of entries and of movements within the plus-maze open arms, (3) similar levels of plus-maze closed-arm exploration, (4) a decrease in the exploratory activity in a hole board, (5) a decrease in the number of white but not red blood cells, and (6) similar corticosterone serum levels. Eleven days after cohabitation with a conspecific, HC and SC mice were injected with 5 x10(6) Ehrlich tumor cells. Results showed that SC animals presented decreased resistance to the ascitic form of the Ehrlich tumor. The observed data provide experimental evidence that psychosocial stress induced by cohabitation with a sick cage mate changed at the same time some behavioral and physiological parameters, and decreased resistance to Ehrlich tumor. These data are discussed in the light of a possible neuroimmune system interaction.
本研究分析了与患病同笼伙伴同居11天对小鼠行为和艾氏腹水癌生长的影响。将雌鼠配对分为一个对照组和一个实验组。每个对照组中的一只小鼠不受干扰，称为“健康伙伴”（HC）。每对实验组小鼠中的一只腹腔注射5×10⁶个艾氏腹水癌细胞，另一只即本研究对象称为“患病伙伴”（SC）。SC小鼠表现出：（1）旷场活动增加；（2）十字迷宫开放臂的进入次数和移动次数增加；（3）十字迷宫封闭臂探索水平相似；（4）洞板探索活动减少；（5）白细胞而非红细胞数量减少；（6）血清皮质酮水平相似。与同种小鼠同居11天后，给HC和SC小鼠注射5×10⁶个艾氏腹水癌细胞。结果显示，SC动物对艾氏腹水癌腹水形式的抵抗力下降。观察到的数据提供了实验证据，即与患病同笼伙伴同居所诱发的心理社会应激同时改变了一些行为和生理参数，并降低了对艾氏腹水癌的抵抗力。根据可能的神经免疫系统相互作用对这些数据进行了讨论。
