Oscillation of enzyme networks in spleen triggered by an immunopotentiator, bestatin.

In order to understand the effects of an immunomodulator in vivo, we performed time series analysis on mice given an aminopeptidase inhibitor, bestatin. This agent, which is known to be an immunopotentiator, caused peculiar oscillation of the activities of various hydrolytic enzymes in spleen. Autocorrelation curves obtained from serial data of each enzymatic activity revealed that sine curve-type oscillations are brought about in enzyme networks by this inhibitor. Judging from the pattern of the variations of enzymatic activities, it seems that metabolic homeostasis is strongly affected by this agent. The inhibitor probably initiated the homeostatic movements directly and secondarily caused extensive changes in the enzyme networks in vivo. This effect of bestatin may be useful in altering the pathological homeostasis (such as the one in autoimmune diseases) by affecting the dynamic equilibrium among the various components in the immunological system.