Learned immunosuppression is associated with an increased risk of chemically-induced tumors

Based on the hypothesis that certain aspects of the CNS and immune system interact and that altered immune function affects carcinogenesis, an animal model was developed to examine the effects of learned immunosuppression on the development of a chemically induced tumor. In two experiments, we evaluated whether mice, for which immunosuppression was associated with a neutral (conditioned) stimulus, would exhibit an increased susceptibility to tumor development upon reexposure to the conditioned stimulus, as compared to nonconditioned and control animals. A taste aversion conditioning paradigm, based on classical conditioning techniques, was employed to suppress immune function using the cytotoxic and immunosuppressive drug cyclophosphamide (CY) as the unconditioned stimulus and consequently increase the risk of chemically induced tumorigenesis. CY (100 mg/kg, intraperitoneal) was paired with saccharin in the drinking water (0.1%) of adult female mice (CF-1). Conditioned mice were exposed to saccharin twice in the absence of CY, on days 4 and 7 after the first exposure (day 1). All mice were injected with the chemical carcinogen 9,10-dimethylbenzanthracene (DMBA, 50 mg/kg, subcutaneous) on day 4 of conditioning. Two subsequent exposures to saccharin alone substantially increased the risk of developing DMBA-induced tumors (ranging from 83-91%), as compared to control animals (36%) that had not received this pairing. Mice that received all agents (i.e., CY, DMBA, and saccharin) in a slightly different order did not display elevated tumor incidence. Three separate exposures to CY also significantly increased the number of animals developing tumors in response to the carcinogen (75%). Mice were observed for at least 8 weeks after conditioning.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)