Immune response and corticosteroid content in different regimens of cooling.

The effects of different cooling regimens modulating thermal afferent signal on the immune response were experimentally studied on rats. Immunization at low body temperature changed the immune response to the antigen. These changes depended on the depth and rate of previous cooling. The presence of dynamic activity of peripheral thermosensitive afferents potentiated the immune response after surface cooling and reduced the degree of suppression of the immune response after deep cooling. No clear-cut relationship between changes in the immune response and blood concentration of corticosterone during cooling was found.