Effect of cocaine and murine AIDS on lamina propria T and B cells in normal mice.

We developed an experimental model to study the effect of daily cocaine administration on the mucosal immune system during murine acquired immune deficiency syndrome (MAIDS). Mice were infected with LP-BM5 murine leukemia virus, a retrovirus which causes immunosuppression with development of functional murine AIDS. Mice were given cocaine by daily intraperitoneal injection for 11 weeks. Our objective was to investigate if cocaine treatment could alter the mucosal immune system at the level of the intestinal lamina propria (ILP) and if it could further modify the already altered mucosal immunity when it was administered to MAIDS-mice. Daily cocaine administration induced a significant decrease in the number of IgA+ cells with a concomitant increase in the number of CD8+ cells per villi in the ILP. Murine retrovirus infection alone decreased the number of IgA+ and CD4+ cells in the ILP, and this decreased was even more marked when MAIDS mice also received cocaine. These data indicate that cocaine administration could potentiate the dramatic effect that MAIDS infection has in the mucosal-associated lymphoid tissues.