Effects of putative cannabinoid receptor ligands, anandamide and 2-arachidonyl-glycerol, on immune function in B6C3F1 mouse splenocytes.

Anandamide (arachidonylethanolamide), isolated from the porcine brain, and 2-arachidonyl-glycerol (2-Ara-Gl), derived from the canine gut, are two recently identified putative endogenous cannabinoid receptor ligands. Both ligands have been reported to possess binding affinity for cannabinoid receptor subtypes, CB1 and CB2. The objective of the present studies was to investigate the immunomodulatory effects of both of these ligands in B6C3F1 mouse splenocytes. 2-Ara-Gl produced a marked and dose-related inhibition of the mixed lymphocyte response, anti-CD3 mAb-induced T-cell proliferation and LPS-induced B-cell proliferation, whereas having no inhibitory effect on phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate/ionomycin-induced cell proliferation. Interestingly, the inhibitory effects by 2-Ara-Gl on proliferation were at least dependent in part on cell density. At high cell density, 2-Ara-Gl enhanced lymphoproliferation whereas exhibiting marked inhibitory activity at low cell density. Similarly, in vitro primary immunoglobulin M antibody-forming cell responses which are dependent on high cell density also were found to be enhanced by 2-Ara-Gl. Conversely, anandamide exhibited no inhibitory effects on cell proliferative responses to stimulation by anti-CD3 mAb, lipopolysaccharide or phorbol-12-myristate-13-acetate/ionomycin treatment. Anandamide also showed no effect on the in vitro sheep erythrocyte antibody-forming cell response. Although shown previously to markedly inhibit forskolin-stimulated cyclic AMP accumulation, 2-Ara-Gl exhibited no effect on basal adenylate cyclase activity in splenocytes. Additionally, anandamide showed negligible inhibitory effects at extremely high concentrations on forskolin-stimulated adenylate cyclase activity and no effect on basal adenylate cyclase activity in splenocytes.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)