Comparative effects of morphine on leukwytic antigenic markers of monkeys and humans

Knowing the in vitro effects of morphine on monkey leukocytes would be helpful in extending the utility of vestigations. Morphine effects On T1l, Leu2a, Leu3a antigenic markers on leukocytes from rhesus monkeys and humans were assessed by using single‐and two‐colour cytofluorometric analysis. Kinetics of expression Of these markers was determined after modulation of the original complement of T11 markers from the surface of T11(+) cells. Percentages of leukocytes detectable by directly staining these markers before modulation were within the expected range for monkey and human cells. Also, as expected, T11 modulation reduced the percentages of cells expressing T11 in the single‐color analysis, with reductions being greater for monkeys than human cells. Furthermore, in the single‐color analyses, the effects of morphine on kinetics of T11 expression were quite similar for both human and monkey cells. In the two‐color analyses, the simultaneous expression of T11and Leu3a markers was uniform for both monkey and human cells. These effects of morphine on kinetics of these markers varied only slightly between species. On the other hand, the distribution of Leu2 on T11 cells was markedly different for monkey and human T‐cells. Whereas human Leu2a(+) expressed Of T1l receptors' monkey high‐density Leu2a expressed fewer T1l markers than On kinetics Of Leu2a and T1l expression were at Ob‐ those with vious variance between species. Morphine primarily affected monkey Leu2a at high density and T1l at low density. Only monkeys expressed Leu2a (+)/T11 (−) cells, and morphine enhanced Leu2a expression on these cells.