Interaction between luteotrophic hormone (LH) and thymosin on natural killer cell activity in BALB/c mice.

摘要

The present study investigates the effect of a pituitary hormone (luteotrophic hormone, LH) and a thymic factor (thymosin fraction V, TVF) on in vitro and in vivo natural killer (NK) cell activity of BALB/c mice (2, 6 and 8 months old). In vitro it was found that LH at various concentrations (0.5, 5, 50 and 500 ng/ml) significantly reduced the NK cell activity. This inhibition was not blocked by TFV. In vivo it was observed that there was a great inhibition of NK cell activity by LH (5 and 50 ng/ml) on 2- and 6-month-old mice, but a significant increase of NK cell activity on 8-month-old mice. The physiological significance of these observations points to an intimate connection between immune and endocrine system functions.