ABSTRACT
Using classical conditioning with immunosuppressive drugs, the course of two experimentally induced autoimmune diseases, systemic lupus erythematosus in mice, and adjuvant arthritis in rats, has been modified. In these studies cyclophosphamide or cyclosporine A has served as the unconditioned stimulus. Most experiments on the conditioning of immuno-pharmacologic effects have employed the taste aversion paradigm. In such experiments, rats or mice are presented with a distinctively flavored drinking solution, the consumption of which is followed by an injection of an immunomodulating drug. Results from nine experiments demonstrate that the clinical course of systemic lupus erythematosus in mice and adjuvant arthritis in rats can be modified by conditioned stimuli that signal administration of an immuno-pharmacologic drug. These results confirm earlier reports on conditioned modulation of immunologic parameters and extend them to two experimentally induced autoimmune diseases. It also seems important to point out that other immune related diseases have received much less attention so far.
