RESUMO
After the major burn a multitude of immunologic alterations develop. Although the roles of suppressor cells and serum inhibitory factors in the mechanism of postburn immunosuppression are well known, the role of the neuroendo-crine response is still not understood. In this paper determining stress hormones and splenocyte immune functions are simultaneously focused on in deeply burned rats with 25% BSA. The changes of plasma corticosterone (B) and catecholamine are dominant within 24 h postburn(PB), and soon return to normal. The endogenous activity of splenocytes (SBT) decreases at 12 h PB. while the ability of spleno-cytes responsing to ConA in vitro (MSBT) is almost unchanged. The pathological lesions of spleen may be affected by increasing levels of plasma B. When most of the stress hormones return to normal at 72 h PB the SBT and MSBT become different. This may be influenced by many other factors rather than the neuroendocrine system. The differences between SBT and MSBT suggest thai SBT may reflect the more real condition of lymphocytes in vivo than MSBT in vitro. Following burns the roles of streess hormones actually participate in the immune regulation such as plasma B and catecholamine act in the early postburn stage.