Adrenocorticotrophic function of the pituitary and immune response in the rat

: The effect of hypophysis adrenocorticotropic function on the immune response to the ram erythrocytes in rats was studied after hypophysectomy or centragenous dexametasone blockade; the humoral immune response was more obviously activated in animals fed with dexametasone whereas indices of the cellular immunity: the delayed hypersensitivity response (DHR)--were more obvious in hypophysectomised animals. The T-cell populations are normally much more suppressed with glycocorticoids than the cells participating in humoral immune response.