Immunological depression in spontaneously hypertensive rats.

Cell-mediated immunity was investigated in spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR). The thymuses of young SHR rats before developing hypertension had reduced numbers of immature T lymphocytes which were detected by the rosette formation test with guinea-pig erythrocytes in the presence of foetal bovine serum, whereas the thymuses of eight other rat strains tested contained about 60% of rosetting cells. The number of rosetting cells decreased progressively with age. The blastogenic responses to PHA and Con A of the SHR rats' lymphocytes was depressed to less than one-fifth when compared to those of othe rat strains including W/7k rats, the original colony of the SHR rats. Eight-month-old SHR rats showed fewer mitogenic responses than those of 2-month-old SHR rats. Other cell-mediated immune responses, including delayed hypersensitivity, allograft rejections, and a co-operation of T and B lymphocytes to produce humoral antibody formation were depressed significantly when compared to those of other rat strains. Possible mechanisms of immunological depression in the SHR rats in relation to the devleopment of hypertension are discussed.