Time-course of the murine lymphoid tissue involution during and following stressor exposure

Groups of 35-day-old male C57BL/6 mice were stressed 1 hour per day by immobilization for 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 11 or 14 consecutive days. Control groups were left undisturbed. The animals were then killed and body weight and the weights of the thymus, spleen and axillary lymph nodes determined. Chronic immobilization stress caused involution of the thymus, spleen and lymph nodes to an extent depending on the number of days of stress. The thymus showed the fastest response: thymus weight was significantly lower in stressed animals than in controls by the third day of stress while significant effects on spleen and lymph node weight were not observed until day 5. Fast recovery of lymphoid organ weight was observed after the stress period. The thymus recovered most quickly: control values were re-attained approximately 8 days after cessation of stress, and indeed by day 20 thymus weight was about 12% higher than in normal animals. The spleen and lymph nodes recuperated weight more slowly, re-attaining control values after about 20 days.