Auditory stimulation of opera music induced prolongation of murine cardiac allograft survival and maintained generation of regulatory CD4+CD25+ cells

Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery
March 23 2012, 7:26
doi:10.1186/1749-8090-7-26

Masateru Uchiyama [1,2,3], Xiangyuan Jin [2,4], Qi Zhang [2], Toshihito Hirai [5], Atsushi Amano [1], Hisashi Bashuda [3] and Masanori Niimi [2]   

[1] Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Juntendo University Hospital, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan
[2] Department of Surgery, Teikyo University, 2-11-1 Kaga, Itabashi-ku, Tokyo 173-8605, Japan
[3] Department of Immunology, Juntendo University Hospital, 2-1-1 Hongo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-8421, Japan
[4] Department of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, The 4th Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University, 37 Yiyuan Street, Nangang District, Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China
[5] Department of Urology, Tokyo Women's Medical University, 8-1 Kawata-cho, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo 162-8666, Japan

BACKGROUND:

Interactions between the immune response and brain functions such as olfactory, auditory, and visual sensations are likely. This study investigated the effect of sounds on alloimmune responses in a murine model of cardiac allograft transplantation.

METHODS:

Naïve CBA mice (H2k) underwent transplantation of a C57BL/6 (B6, H2b) heart and were exposed to one of three types of music--opera (La Traviata), classical (Mozart), and New Age (Enya)--or one of six different single sound frequencies, for 7 days. Additionally, we prepared two groups of CBA recipients with tympanic membrane perforation exposed to opera for 7 days and CBA recipients exposed to opera for 7 days before transplantation (pre-treatment). An adoptive transfer study was performed to determine whether regulatory cells were generated in allograft recipients. Immunohistochemical, cell-proliferation, cytokine, and flow cytometry assessments were also performed.

RESULTS:

CBA recipients of a B6 cardiac graft that were exposed to opera music and Mozart had significantly prolonged allograft survival (median survival times [MSTs], 26.5 and 20 days, respectively), whereas those exposed to a single sound frequency (100, 500, 1000, 5000, 10,000, or 20,000 Hz) or Enya did not (MSTs, 7.5, 8, 9, 8, 7.5, 8.5 and 11 days, respectively). Untreated, CBA mice with tympanic membrane perforations and CBA recipients exposed to opera for 7 days before transplantation (pre-treatment) rejected B6 cardiac grafts acutely (MSTs, 7, 8 and 8 days, respectively). Adoptive transfer of whole splenocytes, CD4+ cells, or CD4+CD25+ cells from opera-exposed primary allograft recipients resulted in significantly prolonged allograft survival in naive secondary recipients (MSTs, 36, 68, and > 100 days, respectively). Proliferation of splenocytes, interleukin (IL)-2 and interferon (IFN)-γ production was suppressed in opera-exposed mice, and production of IL-4 and IL-10 from opera-exposed transplant recipients increased compared to that from splenocytes of untreated recipients. Flow cytometry studies showed an increased CD4+CD25+ Forkhead box P3 (Foxp3)+ cell population in splenocytes from those mice.

CONCLUSION:

Our findings indicate that exposure to opera music, such as La traviata, could affect such aspects of the peripheral immune response as generation of regulatory CD4+CD25+ cells and up-regulation of anti-inflammatory cytokines, resulting in prolonged allograft survival.

http://www.cardiothoracicsurgery.org/content/7/1/26

http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186%2F1749-8090-7-26/fulltext.html

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3338095/