The effects of Osteopathic Lymphatic Pump Techniques (LPT) on blood leukocyte numbers in rats with lung disease

The ability to fight off foreign infection in the body is determined by the immune system. Lymphatic Pump Techniques (LPT) were created by Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine to enhance lymph flow in distinct areas of the body. The treatments are meant to assist in the removal of cellular wastes, toxins, and bacteria from interstitial fluid. Previously, members of the lab demonstrated that LPT reduced lung bacteria in rats with Pnuemoniae and the numbers of solid lung tumors in rats with cancer.  The purpose of this project was to determine if this LPT-mediated clearance of disease was related to increased immunity.  In project 1, rats were infected intranasal with Streptococcus Pnuemoniae, a bacterium that infects the upper respiratory tract.  Twenty-four hours following infection, rats received no treatment (control), four min of light touch under anesthesia (sham), or four min of LPT under anesthesia, for three consecutive days. On day four post-infection, blood was measured for immune cells.  In project 2 rats were intravenously injected with MADB106 tumor cells, a cancer that forms tumors in the lungs. Rats received control, sham, and LPT as above for seven days. On day eight-post tumor injection, blood was measured for immune cells using a Hemavet cell analyzer.  There were no differences in immune cell number in the blood between control, sham, or LPT in either project.  Our results show that LPT is protective in the lungs of rats with either Pnuemoniae or lung cancers, but this effect is not associated with blood leukocyte numbers.