Ramarathinam L, Pross S, Plescia O, Newton C, Widen R, Friedman H
Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of South Florida College of Medicine, Tampa 33612, USA.
Mech Ageing Dev. 1997 Jun;96(1-3):117-26. doi: 10.1016/s0047-6374(97)01886-1.
Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) the major psychoactive component of marijuana, differentially modulates the immune response of lymphoid cells from young and old mice. This effect was previously shown when cells from mice of different ages were treated with THC in vitro. In the present study THC was given in vivo to mice of different ages. Lymphoid cells from the young and old mice had different immunologic potential in terms of ability to produce cytokines following stimulation with either Con A or anti-CD3 antibody. IL-4 and IL-10 production was consistently up-regulated in spleen cell cultures from the older animals. In addition, in vivo administration of THC up-regulated the proliferative response of lymphoid cells from young adult mice. Such enhancement was not evident for cells from older animals. Although the proliferative response of spleen cells in the old mice tended to be suppressed, statistical significance was not evident possibly because of marked variation of the responses of cells from the older mice. Since marijuana is used by persons of a wide range of ages, aging should be an important variable that must be considered when assessing the immunomodilatory effect of this drug.
四氢大麻酚（THC）是大麻中的主要精神活性成分，它对年轻和老年小鼠的淋巴细胞免疫反应有不同的调节作用。此前在体外对不同年龄小鼠的细胞进行THC处理时已显示出这种效应。在本研究中，对不同年龄的小鼠进行了THC的体内给药。就用刀豆蛋白A（Con A）或抗CD3抗体刺激后产生细胞因子的能力而言，年轻和老年小鼠的淋巴细胞具有不同的免疫潜能。老年动物脾细胞培养物中白细胞介素-4（IL-4）和白细胞介素-10（IL-10）的产生持续上调。此外，THC的体内给药上调了年轻成年小鼠淋巴细胞的增殖反应。对于老年动物的细胞，这种增强并不明显。尽管老年小鼠脾细胞的增殖反应有被抑制的趋势，但可能由于老年小鼠细胞反应的显著差异，统计学意义并不明显。由于各个年龄段的人都使用大麻，在评估这种药物的免疫调节作用时，年龄应是一个必须考虑的重要变量。
