Effect of restraint stress on immune system and experimental B16 melanoma metastasis in aged mice

An overnight restraint stress was given to young and old mice and its effect was examined in terms of the number and function of T cells and natural killer (NK) cells in spleen and patterns of lung metastasis of B16 melanoma cells. A great decrease was observed in the number and proliferative activity of splenic T cells in old mice after the stress. The decrease in young mice was rather temporary with a quick recovery. The number of NK cells in spleen was not different between young and old mice before giving the stress, but a significant decrease was observed in the old after the stress. NK activity was always much lower in old than in young throughout the experiment. The pattern of metastasis of B16 melanoma cells was different between young and old mice. Metastatic colonies in lungs were larger in number and bigger in size in young mice than in old mice. After the stress, the number increased and the size unchanged in old mice, while the size increased and the number remained unchanged in young mice. It was shown that the same restraint stress resulted in a more serious influence on the immune cells in old than in young mice and gave rise to a differential effect on the pattern of tumor metastasis between young and old mice.