Glucocorticoid hormones and the immune response of CBA and C57BL strains of mice of different ages

: Experiments on CBA and C57BL mice were made to study the relationship between the function of the hypothalamus-pituitary-adrenocortical system (HPACS) and the intensity of immune response to sheep red blood cells. The immune response evaluated from the number of rosette-forming cells appeared to be lowered in low-respondent C57BL mice, depending on the age, whereas in CBA mice, the lowering of the immune response was not age-dependent. The intensity of the HPACS response measured according to the level of 11-OHCS two hours after immunization was not found to be dependent on the genetic differences. However, the level of 11-OHCS significantly dropped with age only in C57BL mice with a low response to sheep red blood cells. Thus, a correlation was discovered between the intensity of immune response to T-dependent antigen and the function of the HPACS, which was particularly noticeable during aging of mice belonging to a definite genotype.