COMPARISON OF T CELL-MEDIATED IMMUNE RESPONSIVENESS OF NZB, (NZB BY NZW)F1 HYBRID AND OTHER MURINE STRAINS

Abstract

The age-dependent capacity of NZB and (NZB .times. NZW)F1 hybrid, BALB/c, DBA/2, C57BL/6 and C3H mice to generate T [thymus-derived] cell-mediated immune responses was assessed qualitatively and quantitatively by measuring the following effector functions: the time course of alloreactive cytotoxic T-cell activity triggered in vitro was comparable for NZ and other mouse strains; cell reactivity generated in vivo against EL4 [leukemia] tumor cells was low in young (NZB .times. NZW)F1 mice and in DBA/2 mice but was comparable for older (NZB .times. NZW)F1, NZB and other mouse strains; the time-dependent, vaccinia virus-specific, cytotoxic T-cell activity after systemic infection was similar for all mouse strains; the T cell-dependent primary footpad swelling after local injection with lymphocytic choriomeningitis virus was within the same range for all mouse strains tested with respect to size and kinetics of the reaction; and the cell-mediated immune protection against Listeria monocytogenes after sytemic infection revealed that NZ mice are, independent of age, more susceptible than C3H or C57BL/6 mice and comparable to A strain mice. These responses in young, or clinically relatively normal older, NZB or (NZB .times. NZW)F1 strains that are affected by a lupus-like autoimmune disease did not differ markedly from the range of responses of other mouse strains of 2-14 mo. of age, which are not known to be similarly diseased. Overall cell-mediated immunity of NZ mice as assessed quantitatively and kinetically in these functional models is within normal ranges. Possible T-cell defects may be selective and do not occur or were not detected in these models.