Effect of sciatic denervation on cell-mediated immunity.

Local semiallogenic graft-versus-host (GvH) and host-versus-graft (HvG) reactions were induced in mice whose right hind limbs had been partially denervated surgically. The denervation was performed by removing a 2 mm segment of the sciatic nerve, while sham-operated and non-operated mice served as controls. Eight days after denervation the mice were injected with spleen cells from a 3-month-old C57BL female, or from (C57xCBA)F1 male mice, and the GvH and HvG reactions were evaluated, 7 or 10 days later, by quantitatively estimating the weight (enlargement) of the popliteal lymph-nodes. Significant weight increases of 51% (for the GvH reaction) and 63% (for the HvG reaction) were observed in the denervated mice, when compared to the sham-operated ones. This increased cell-type reactivity in a denervated limbs seems to be related to the immunostimulatory activity of cytokines which are released by cells engaged in repair processes of damaged nerves, as well as related to the reduction of the immunosuppressive effect of noradrenergic innervation in the denervated animals.