Radiation and Hormone Effects Upon Lymphocyte Release from Isolated Perfused Dog Spleens

Summary

Studies on lymphocyte release from isolated perfused dog spleens following administration of adrenal extracts and irradiation indicate that the rate of cell release was proportional to the perfusion flow-rate and independent of hormone dosage. The hormone-induced cell release into the perfusate was eliminated by 100 r of x-irradiation to the spleen during perfusion, causing lymphocytolysis in situ; but 200 r of whole-body ⁶⁰Co irradiation two to four days prior to splenectomy did not prevent lymphocyte release under the influence of adrenal cortex extract.

Treatment with A.C.E. caused white-pulp hypoplasia. Marked pyknosis of white pulp and perfusate lymphocytes was observed within two hours following 100 r or x-irradiation. A synergism of effect upon the spleen was noted when irradiation and steroid hormones were administered within short intervals of each other. The lymphocytes released into the perfusate appeared to originate in the bands of medium-sized lymphocytes in the splenic white pulp. Perfusion did not impair reticulo-endothelial efficiency.