Restraint stress causes tissue-specific changes in the immune cell distribution.

In this study, the effect of restraint stress on alterations in the immune cell distribution was examined in bone marrow, liver, thymus, and spleen. In bone marrow, stress induced a striking increase in both the proportion and number of CD3+CD4+, CD3+CD8+, B220brightIgM+, CD3-IL-2R beta + and CD3intIL-2R beta + cells. Such an increase was partially reversed by pretreatment with RU-486, a steroid receptor antagonist, while it was profoundly enhanced by either sympathectomy with 6-hydroxydopamine hydrobromide or by a beta-adrenergic blockade with propranolol, a beta-adrenergic receptor antagonist; this suggests that corticosteroids and catecholamines may act in opposition with regard to such an immune-cell accumulation in bone marrow. In the liver, stress decreased the proportions of CD3intIL-2R beta +, CD3-IL-2R beta +, and B220brightIgM+ cells, while it increased the proportion of CD3brightIL-2R beta-cells, thus demonstrating that different subpopulations were differentially affected. In the thymus and spleen, stress only slightly affected the proportions of lymphocyte subpopulations, although both tissues showed a drastic reduction in the number of lymphocytes. Taken together, these results suggest that restraint stress induces tissue-specific changes in the immune-cell distribution.