β-Endorphin Effects on Antibody Production, Proliferation, and Secretion of Th1/Th2 Cytokines In Vivo

Intraperitoneal injection of beta-endorphin in doses of 1, 0.01, and 0.0005 mu g/kg under conditions of systemic immunization increased the count of antibody-producing cells in the spleen and the titer of anti-erythrocyte antibodies in the plasma of experimental animals. Intraperitoneal beta-endorphin stimulated proliferative activity of splenocytes in mice in the presence of both B- and T-cell mitogen, did not change the production of IFN-gamma, reduced the level of IL-2, and stimulated the secretion of IL-4, the main Th2-polarizing factor.