Endogenous blood levels of corticosterone control the immunologic cell mass and B cell activity in mice.

An inverse relation between endogenous levels of glucocorticoids and splenic mass and cellularity was detected. Decreased endogenous corticosterone blood levels result in an increased number of immunoglobulin-secreting cells in the spleen, a fact that cannot be attributed only to the expansion of the lymphoid cell mass. The opposite phenomenon was observed in animals with high corticosterone blood levels, which showed reduced numbers of immunoglobulin-secreting cells. It is concluded that endogenous glucocorticoid levels contribute to the control of B cell activity and possibly to the interaction of these cells with other immunologic cells.