Examination of the mononuclear phagocyte system in lupus-prone male BXSB mice.
During the course of lupus-like autoimmune disease male BXSB mice develop an increasing monocytosis in the peripheral blood. As we demonstrated previously, this monocytosis is parallelled by an expansion of a strain-specific high number of macrophage precursor cells (CFU-M) in the bone marrow of male mice. To test the hypothesis that the expanded mononuclear phagocyte system (MPS) may promote autoimmune disease in these mice the organ-associated macrophage system was examined. Our latest data show that an unusual expansion of CFU-M also appears in spleen and liver of male mice 2 weeks after birth. In addition to a morphological alteration of the organs during the course of the disease there is a change in number and distribution of organ-resident macrophages. Considering these results the possible contribution of the expanded MPS in promoting autoimmune disease is discussed.
Vieten
G
G
Department of Immunobiology, Fraunhofer Institute, Hannover, Federal Republic of Germany.
Grams
B
B
Müller
M
M
Hartung
K
K
Emmendörffer
A
A
D000818:Animals; D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic / Q000032:analysis; D015232:Dinoprostone / Q000378:metabolism; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000503:physiopathology*; D008262:Macrophage Activation; D008264:Macrophages / Q000502:physiology*; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008817:Mice, Mutant Strains; D010587:Phagocytosis; D013154:Spleen / Q000166:cytology; D013481:Superoxides / Q000378:metabolism
D015214:Antigens, Differentiation, Myelomonocytic; D013481:Superoxides; D015232:Dinoprostone