title: Previously unrecognized functions of the spleen: development and maintenance of immune competence and regulation.
abstract: To examine the influence of the spleen on the development and function of the immune system, the effects of the inborn asplenia in Dh/+ mice were studied and compared with those of neonatal and postnatal splenectomies. The antibody responses to particulate and soluble antigens in Dh/+ mice were weaker than those in normal controls. This was correlated with the inability of Dh/+ T-lymphocytes to cooperate with B cells in cell-transfer experiments. A defective helper function was also found in T-cells of neonatally splenectomized mice, but it could be restored partly by delaying the removal of spleen until 6 days after birth and totally by infusing autologous spleen cells immediately after splenectomy. By contrast, transfer of spleen cells to Dh/+ mice did not restore the helper function of their T-lymphocytes. Unlike their defective humoral immunity, the cellular immune responses of Dh/+ mice are normal as expressed in their ability to reject foreign grafts and to be contact-sensitized by chemicals. Thus, the presence of the spleen at birth is essential for the development of helper T-cells but not cytotoxic or effector T-cells. Furthermore, evidence is reviewed for the splenic influence on the capacity of other lymphoid organs to trap particulate antigens and for the role of the spleen in the maturation of suppressor T-cells throughout the life span.
mesh_terms: D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007372:Interferons / Q000096:biosynthesis; D051379:Mice; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains / Q000276:immunology*; D013154:Spleen / Q000276:immunology*; D013156:Splenectomy
chemical_list: D007372:Interferons