Incomplete reminder cues trigger memory reconsolidation and sustain learned immune responses

Peripheral immune responses can be modulated by taste-immune associative learning where the presentation of a sweet taste as conditioned stimulus (CS) is paired with the injection of an immunosuppressive substance as unconditioned stimulus (US). Previous findings demonstrate conditioned immunopharmacological properties of the mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR)-inhibitor rapamycin, a drug used to ameliorate neurological diseases and for the prevention of graft rejection. However, conditioned responses gradually weaken over time and eventually disappear following repeated exposure to the CS in the absence of the US. Thus, in order to employ learning paradigms in clinical conditions as supportive immunopharmacological therapy it is important to understand the central and peripheral mechanisms of how learned immune responses can be protected from extinction. Against this background, the present study used a taste-immune learning paradigm with rapamycin as US (5 mg/kg). By applying only 10% (0.5 mg/kg) of the therapeutic dose rapamycin together with the CS (taste stimulus) during eight retrieval trials, conditioned animals still displayed suppressed interleukin-10 production and T cell proliferation in splenocytes as well as diminished activity of the mTOR target protein p70s6k in amygdala tissue samples. Together, these findings indicate that reminder cues in form of only 10% (0.5 mg/kg) of the therapeutic dose rapamycin together with the CS (taste stimulus) at retrieval preserved the memory of conditioned properties of rapamycin, characterizing this approach as a potential supportive tool in peripheral and central pharmacotherapy with the aim to maximize the therapeutic outcome for the patient's benefit.