The sympathetic nervous system modulates antibody response to thymus-independent antigens.

Sympathetic nerve endings were destroyed with 6-hydroxydopamine (6-OHDA) and the response to thymus-dependent and -independent antigens compared in 6-OHDA-treated and control mice. A significantly enhanced plaque-forming cell response to 2 thymus-independent antigens was observed in the 6-OHDA-treated mice; in contrast the response to a thymus-dependent antigen was normal. The findings point to selective modulation of antibody response by the sympathetic nervous system.