PATHOGENESIS OF EXPERIMENTAL ALLERGIC ORCHITIS .3. T-LYMPHOCYTE REQUIREMENT IN LOCAL ADOPTIVE TRANSFER BY PERITONEAL EXUDATE CELLS

Abstract

In experimental allergic orchitis (EAO), a lesion characterized by mononuclear invasion of seminiferous tubules can be adoptively transferred within 1-4 days by testicular injection of peritoneal exudate cells (PEC) from syngeneic strain 13 guinea pigs (GP) immunized with homologous testicular antigens in complete Freund''s adjuvant (CFA). This study examined the role of T [thymus-derived] lymphocytes, macrophages and polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN) in the adoptive transfer. Guinea pig PEC contained 7% T lymphocytes, rare B [bone marrow-derived] lymphocytes and over 90% of macrophages and PMN. After T lymphocytes were depleted by rabbit erythrocyte (E) rosette and Hypaque-Ficoll gradient centrifugation, cell preparations that contained 73% of original macrophages and 15% original T lymphocytes were obtained, and these cells did not transfer EAO (0 of 18 testes). Cell preparations enriched in T lymphocytes by nylon wool column or E rosette contained 1.5% of the original macrophages and 59% of the original T lymphocytes transferred EAO to 70% of the testes, starting at 1.5 .times. 106 T lymphocytes/testis. The number of T lymphocytes correlated with the incidence of adoptive transfer; the correlation existed regardless of the number of macrophages or PMN present. EAO was adoptively transferred to recipients that had total-body irradiation. T lymphocytes are apparently capable of transferring lesions of EAO. In the transfer, the T lymphocytes probably did not function as helper T cells, since the transfer need not involve participation of host lymphoid cells. By inference, testis antigen-reactive T lymphocytes exist.