Dehydroepiandrosterone fails to improve immunoglobulin synthesis and lymphocyte mitogenic response after burn injury

Dehydroepiandrosterone has been proposed as a means of restoring immune function after injury. In this study we examined the effect of dehydroepiandrosterone on the impaired immunoglobulin M synthesis and depressed lymphocyte mitogenic responses observed after burn injury. We divided BALB/c mice (n = 28) into four equal groups that received either a 25% total body surface area dorsal steam burn or a sham procedure. One hour later we injected mice subcutaneously either with 100 micrograms dehydroepiandrosterone or vehicle alone. Five days later we isolated splenocytes for assessment of immune function. We stimulated splenocytes with lipopolysaccharide and 5 days later measured immunoglobulin M synthesis specific for peptidoglycan polysaccharide, a ubiquitous bacterial antigen. We stimulated additional cultures with lipopolysaccharide or concanavalin A to measure B- or T-lymphocyte mitogenic response. Burn injury impaired peptidoglycan polysaccharide-specific immunoglobulin M synthesis compared with sham (p < 0.05), and this impairment was not restored by the administration of dehydroepiandrosterone (p < 0.05). Furthermore dehydroepiandrosterone did not correct the burn-induced impairments of B- and T-cell mitogenic responses (p < 0.05). Our study demonstrates that in this model the administration of dehydroepiandrosterone in vivo does not correct the impairments of humoral or cellular immunity induced by burn injury.