Differential Influence of a Thymic Extract on α‐ and β‐Adrenoceptors of Mouse Brain Cortex

Experimental findings support the hypothesis that the thymus plays an important role in maintaining the efficient network of interactions among immune, endocrine, and nervous functions.14 One of the numerous targets of thymic action is the adrenergic system. We previously found a restoring influence of a thymus graft on the alterations of some P-adrenergic responsiveness in young athymic nude and old normal mice.5 Both the alterations and the thymus-induced restoring actions involve modifications of P-adrenergic receptors PARS).^.' Thymus control was also demonstrated as effective in the brain cortex of old mice where it exerts selective action on PIARs altered during aging, whereas it does not alter P2AR density which does not show age-related