Reduction in popliteal lymph node graft-versus-host reactivity by homologous and heterologous pregnancy serum.
The popliteal lymph node assay was used to investigate the effect of pregnancy on graft-versus-host reactivity (GvHR) of mouse spleen cells. After local injection of splenocytes from primiparous syngeneically pregnant (by BALB/cJ males) or allogeneically pregnant (by CBA/Ca males) mice no differences in lymph node weight gain were observed in F1 recipients (CBA/Ca x BALB/cJ) when compared to injections of cells from age-matched non-pregnant BALB/cJ mice. However, lymphocytes of pregnant BALB/cJ females which had previously been pregnant between 4 and 6 times by CBA/Ca males induced a significantly lower GvHR compared to cells of matched non-pregnant multiparous mice. These results suggested an inhibitory effect of gestation on cells possibly primed towards paternal antigens by multiple pregnancies. To test this hypothesis, virgin BALB/cJ mice were actively immunized with lymphocytes of male CBA/Ca mice. Before injection into F1 recipients, spleen cells of immunized animals were incubated for 1 h at 37 degrees C in heat-inactivated serum of primiparous pregnant or virgin non-pregnant mice. Pre-incubation in pregnancy serum had no effect on unprimed cells, but GvHR of cells derived from immunized donors was significantly depressed in female recipients. In male animals this effect was only irregularly observed. Inhibition of GvHR was also observed with serum from pregnant but not non-pregnant pigs. Depression of cellular immune response was observed as early as days 4-9 post-coitum (p.c.) with mouse serum and days 16-19 p.c. with pig serum. These results indicate that pregnancy serum contains factor(s) which modulates the GvHR of primed lymphocytes in both a species- and an antigen-non-specific manner while reactivity of naive spleen cells is not changed.
Koch
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AFRC Institute of Animal Physiology and Genetics Research, Babraham, Cambridge, U.K.
D000818:Animals; D005260:Female; D006087:Graft vs Host Reaction; D007108:Immune Tolerance; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D010298:Parity; D011247:Pregnancy / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology*; D013491:Suppressor Factors, Immunologic / Q000097:blood
D013491:Suppressor Factors, Immunologic