PULMONARY IMMUNE EFFECTOR CELLS IN GUINEA PIGS WITH PULMONARY IMMUNE COMPLEX DISEASE
Abstract
Changes in immunologic effector cell populations in lung tissue, bronchoalveolar spaces and tracheobronchial lymph nodes (TBLN) were evaluated during the course of a pulmonary immune complex disease. Guinea pigs were systemically immunized with ovalbumin (OA) in complete Freund's adjuvant and subsequently aerosol challenged with OA. At various intervals after challenge, the number of macrophages, lymphocytes (T and B cells) and neutrophils present in each cell population was determined. This study demonstrated that significant cellular changes occur in the respiratory tract of guinea pigs with immune complex disease. These local changes were not observed in systemic sources. An increase in total cell numbers obtained from lung tissue, the bronchoalveolar spaces and the TBLN was observed. In addition, the proportion of lymphocytes increased in the lung tissue and bronchoalveolar cellular milieu. The presence of OA-specific lymphocytes in the respiratory tract was evaluated by OA-induced in vitro blastogenesis. OA-specific lymphocytes were detected in lung tissue and bronchoalveolar spaces and the antigen-specific blastogenic responses were mediated by T cells. The absolute numbers of these cells increased during the disease process. OA-specific lymphocytes were also detected in TBLN. The blastogenic response was initially mediated by B cells and subsequently mediated by both TBLN T and B cells, suggesting a proliferation of B cells in the TBLN during the acute phase of the disease. IgM and IgG antibody-forming cell (AFC) responses of pulmonary lymphocytes were evaluated by direct and indirect plaque assays at 24 and 72 hr after elicitation of the disease. These data demonstrated increases in both IgM and IgG AFC in pulmonary lymphocyte populations at 72 hr, with increases in IgM-AFC being most pronounced, again implicating the possibility of local OA-specific antibody formation in the respiratory tract during the disease pathogenesis. These studies have characterized the cell types involved in a pulmonary disease state. Analysis of pulmonary immune effector cells and their immunoreactants reflected the pulmonary disease state. An understanding of the events that occur in the respiratory tract during a pulmonary disease in an animal model may be beneficial in the diagnosis and subsequent treatment of human pulmonary disease.
Recommended Citation
LEFEVER, ANN V, "PULMONARY IMMUNE EFFECTOR CELLS IN GUINEA PIGS WITH PULMONARY IMMUNE COMPLEX DISEASE" (1981). Dissertations (1962 - 2010) Access via Proquest Digital Dissertations. AAI8211435.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/dissertations/AAI8211435