Vol. 286, Issue 2, 931-937, August 1998

Rat Natural Killer Cell, T Cell and Macrophage Functions after Intracerebroventricular Injection of SNC 80¹

Jason E. Nowak, Ricardo Gomez-Flores, Silvia N. Calderon, Kenner C. Rice and Richard J. Weber

Section of Medical Sciences, Department of Biomedical and Therapeutic Sciences, University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria, Peoria, Illinois (J.E.N., R.G.F., R.J.W.) and Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry, NIDDK, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland (S.N.C., K.C.R.)

We investigated the effects of (+)-4-[( R)--((2S,5R)-4-allyl-2,5-dimethyl-1-piperazinyl)-3-methoxybenzyl]-N,N-diethylbenzamide (SNC 80), a nonpeptidic delta-opioid receptor-selective agonist, on rat leukocyte functions. Intracerebroventricular injection of SNC 80 (20 nmol) in Fischer 344N male rats did not affect splenic natural killer cell activity compared with intracerebroventricular saline-injected controls. SNC 80 also had no effect on concanavalin A-, anti-T cell receptor-, interleukin-2- and anti-T cell receptor + interleukin-2-induced splenic and thymic lymphocyte proliferation in most experiments. In some experiments, however, SNC 80 significantly (P < .01) caused a 41 to 93% increase of concanavalin A-, anti-T cell receptor-, interleukin-2- and anti-T cell receptor + interleukin-2-induced splenic lymphocyte proliferation compared to controls. Additionally, SNC 80 did not significantly affect splenic T cell or natural killer cell populations as measured by the expression of T cell receptor, and T helper (CD4), T suppressor/cytotoxic (CD8) and natural killer cell surface markers. Finally, SNC 80 did not affect interferon-- or lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced splenic nitric oxide, and LPS-induced tumor necrosis factor- production by splenic macrophages. These results suggest that SNC 80 could be useful in the treatment of pain without suppressing immune function. However, the potential immunoenhancing properties of SNC 80 may be also valuable in immunocompromised individuals.