Effect of Dezocine on IL-12 and IL-10 secretion and lymphocyte activation by culturing dendritic cells from human umbilical cord blood

Dezocine has been generally utilized for pain therapy and auxiliary anesthesia. Although it has some advantages on the prevention of some anesthesia related complications, its effect on immune responses remains unclear. Our study investigated the effects of Dezocine on IL-10 and IL-12 secretion and lymphocytes activation by culturing dendritic cells (DCs), and revealed the underlying mechanism. Mononuclear cells were divided into negative control group (GN), positive control group (GP), experimental group (GD; GD(5), D-7, D-9). DCs morphological structure was performed by microscope and its phenotypes were evaluated by flow cytometry. IL-12 and IL-10 levels were determined by ELISA and lymphocyte proliferation capacity was performed by MTT assay. Results showed that typical morphological characters of DCs were observed in GP and GD. The positive cell percentages of CD83, HLA-DR, CD80, CD86 and CD40 in GD were lower than those in GP, but higher than the GN group (P < 0.01). IL-12 level in GD was higher than in GP, however, IL-10 was opposite (P < 0.01). The optical density in GD was lower than in GP (P < 0.05). There were no dose-dependent relationships correlated with DCs phenotypes, IL-12 and IL-10 secretion and lymphocytes activation (P > 0.05). Our conclusion was that Dezocine might play a role in immunity by regulating IL-12 and IL-10 secretion, and affecting lymphocyte activity in process of DCs maturation. Our findings reveal an unexpected immuno-regulatory function of Dezocine in DCs and provide an important insight for investigating the effect of opioid drugs in immunologic responses.