[Effect of glucagon and short-term fasting on the interrelationship of cellular and humoral immune responses].

The effect of subcutaneous administration of 25 micrograms/kg of glucagon and 2-day fasting (as a natural model of hyperglucagonemia) on the accumulation of antibody-forming splenocytes and the expression of a delayed-type hypersensitivity reaction (DTHR) in response to intraperitoneal immunization with sheep erythrocytes at various doses were studied in experiments on random-bred albino mice. A suppressing effect of the hormone on antibody genesis at optimum doses and its stimulating effect at suboptimum doses were revealed. The latter effect took place against a background of DTHR suppression. Glucagon action manifested itself mainly in the effector phase of an immune response and correlated with the effect of two-day fasting on the immune system. A conclusion has been made of a possible competition (at certain doses of antigen) between a cellular and humoral response, whose type can vary during endocrine dysfunction.