Skip to main content
PMC home page
Immunology logoLink to Immunology
. 1988 Sep;65(1):47–51.

Effects of beta endorphin on specific immune responses in man.

S A Williamson 1, R A Knight 1, S L Lightman 1, J R Hobbs 1
PMCID: PMC1385018  PMID: 2846433

Abstract

Synthetic human beta endorphin shows a biphasic effect on the production of specific anti-herpes viral antibodies in vitro. At higher concentrations antibody production is reduced, at lower concentrations it is enhanced. In a proportion of donors whose cells do not produce specific antibody when cultured with antigen alone, the lower concentrations of beta endorphin allow antigen-driven specific antibody production to occur. Specific anti-herpes viral antibodies are also made by natural killer (NK) cell-depleted populations from the same non-producer donors. beta endorphin also exerts biphasic effects on NK, although the direction of the modulation is a mirror image of the effects on antibody production. This suggests that the immunomodulatory actions of beta endorphin on specific immune responses are mediated in part by effects on NK suppressor-inducer cells.

Full text

PDF
47

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Akil H., Young E., Watson S. J., Coy D. H. Opiate binding properties of naturally occurring N- and C-terminus modified beta-endorphins. Peptides. 1981 Fall;2(3):289–292. doi: 10.1016/s0196-9781(81)80121-0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brieva J. A., Targan S., Stevens R. H. NK and T cell subsets regulate antibody production by human in vivo antigen-induced lymphoblastoid B cells. J Immunol. 1984 Feb;132(2):611–615. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Colt E. W., Wardlaw S. L., Frantz A. G. The effect of running on plasma beta-endorphin. Life Sci. 1981 Apr 6;28(14):1637–1640. doi: 10.1016/0024-3205(81)90319-2. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dower S. K., Kronheim S. R., March C. J., Conlon P. J., Hopp T. P., Gillis S., Urdal D. L. Detection and characterization of high affinity plasma membrane receptors for human interleukin 1. J Exp Med. 1985 Aug 1;162(2):501–515. doi: 10.1084/jem.162.2.501. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Faith R. E., Liang H. J., Murgo A. J., Plotnikoff N. P. Neuroimmunomodulation with enkephalins: enhancement of human natural killer (NK) cell activity in vitro. Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1984 Jun;31(3):412–418. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(84)90093-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Hazum E., Chang K. J., Cuatrecasas P. Specific nonopiate receptors for beta-endorphin. Science. 1979 Sep 7;205(4410):1033–1035. doi: 10.1126/science.224457. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Johnson H. M., Smith E. M., Torres B. A., Blalock J. E. Regulation of the in vitro antibody response by neuroendocrine hormones. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1982 Jul;79(13):4171–4174. doi: 10.1073/pnas.79.13.4171. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Knight R. A., Fitzharris P. Separation of spontaneous-killing effector populations by target preference. Br J Cancer. 1980 Aug;42(2):243–251. doi: 10.1038/bjc.1980.223. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Mathews P. M., Froelich C. J., Sibbitt W. L., Jr, Bankhurst A. D. Enhancement of natural cytotoxicity by beta-endorphin. J Immunol. 1983 Apr;130(4):1658–1662. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. McCain H. W., Lamster I. B., Bilotta J. Modulation of human T-cell suppressor activity by beta endorphin and glycyl-L-glutamine. Int J Immunopharmacol. 1986;8(4):443–446. doi: 10.1016/0192-0561(86)90130-x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mitchell D. M., Fitzharris P., Knight R. A., Schild G. C. Kinetics of specific in vitro antibody production following influenza immunization. Clin Exp Immunol. 1982 May;48(2):491–498. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Nordlind K., Mutt V. Influence of beta-endorphin, somatostatin, substance P and vasoactive intestinal peptide on the proliferative response of human peripheral blood T lymphocytes to mercuric chloride. Int Arch Allergy Appl Immunol. 1986;80(3):326–328. doi: 10.1159/000234073. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Plotnikoff N. P., Miller G. C. Enkephalins as immunomodulators. Int J Immunopharmacol. 1983;5(5):437–441. doi: 10.1016/0192-0561(83)90020-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Rossier J., French E. D., Rivier C., Ling N., Guillemin R., Bloom F. E. Foot-shock induced stress increases beta-endorphin levels in blood but not brain. Nature. 1977 Dec 15;270(5638):618–620. doi: 10.1038/270618a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Schweigerer L., Bhakdi S., Teschemacher H. Specific non-opiate binding sites for human beta-endorphin on the terminal complex of human complement. Nature. 1982 Apr 8;296(5857):572–574. doi: 10.1038/296572a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Smith E. M., Morrill A. C., Meyer W. J., 3rd, Blalock J. E. Corticotropin releasing factor induction of leukocyte-derived immunoreactive ACTH and endorphins. 1986 Jun 26-Jul 2Nature. 321(6073):881–882. doi: 10.1038/321881a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Smith R., Grossman A., Gaillard R., Clement-Jones V., Ratter S., Mallinson J., Lowry P. J., Besser G. M., Rees L. H. Studies on circulating met-enkephalin and beta-endorphin: normal subjects and patients with renal and adrenal disease. Clin Endocrinol (Oxf) 1981 Sep;15(3):291–300. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2265.1981.tb00668.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Stephens H. A., Fitzharris P., Knight R. A., Snaith M. L. Null cell immunoregulation in SLE. J Clin Lab Immunol. 1985 Oct;18(2):55–61. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Williamson S. A., Knight R. A., Lightman S. L., Hobbs J. R. Differential effects of beta-endorphin fragments on human natural killing. Brain Behav Immun. 1987 Dec;1(4):329–335. doi: 10.1016/0889-1591(87)90035-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Williamson S. A., Parish N., Chambers J. D., Knight R. A. Human immune responses to herpes simplex virus, varicella-zoster and cytomegalovirus in vitro. Immunology. 1986 Mar;57(3):437–442. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Wybran J., Appelboom T., Famaey J. P., Govaerts A. Suggestive evidence for receptors for morphine and methionine-enkephalin on normal human blood T lymphocytes. J Immunol. 1979 Sep;123(3):1068–1070. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Wybran J. Enkephalins and endorphins as modifiers of the immune system: present and future. Fed Proc. 1985 Jan;44(1 Pt 1):92–94. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES