Musewe A, Chikuni O, Nyazema N, Costa P; International Conference on AIDS.
Int Conf AIDS. 1991 Jun 16-21; 7: 214 (abstract no. W.B.2131).
University of Fort Hare, East London, South Africa
OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether AZT has protective effects on lymphoid organs in mice treated chronically with morphine and codeine. METHODS: Young male C57BL/6 mice were dosed with 160 mg/kg AZT, 75 mg/kg morphine and 140 mg/kg codeine daily for 4 days, during which mice body weights were monitored. On day 4, the mice were killed and their livers, spleens and thymi exteriorised and weighed. Effects on blood and splenic T-cell subsets, total splenocyte and PMNL counts, and phagocytic killing of Candida Albicans were evaluated. RESULTS: Mice treated with morphine and codeine became dependent and tolerant to the drugs. There was a significant difference in body weight and thymus to body weight ratios (p less than 0.01) between the control and mice treated with either morphine or codeine. There appeared to have been involution of the thymus in AZT treated mice. No changes in spleen or liver weights were observed. Splenocyte count decreased by 50% in morphine and codeine treated mice. The ratio of splenic helper to suppressor cell in the control, AZT, morphine and codeine mice were 1.5, 2.0, 2.0 and 1.9 respectively. Phagocytic index was increased in morphine and codeine treated mice. CONCLUSIONS: AZT concurrently administered with morphine or codeine appeared not to have protected mice from the immunotoxic effects of morphine or codeine. It instead also caused thymic involution seen with morphine and codeine. Further studies in the presence of an infection like Candidiasis would be interesting and would shed more light on the possible interaction of AZT, morphine and codeine. All are biotransformed in the liver.
Publication Types:
Keywords:
- Animals
- Body Weight
- Codeine
- Male
- Mice
- Mice, Inbred C3H
- Mice, Inbred C57BL
- Mice, Inbred DBA
- Morphine
- Morphine Dependence
- Spleen
- T-Lymphocyte Subsets
- T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory
- Thymus Gland
- Zidovudine
Other ID:
UI: 102192735
From Meeting Abstracts