ROLE OF T-LYMPHOCYTES IN ADJUVANT ARTHRITIS .1. EVIDENCE FOR REGULATORY FUNCTION OF THYMUS-DERIVED CELLS IN INDUCTION OF DISEASE

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  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 117  (5) , 1878-1882
Abstract
Wistar King Aptekman (WKA) rats were thymectomized at 4 wk of age and injected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis wax D 6 wk after the operation to induce adjuvant arthritis. The development of this disease was strikingly enhanced by this treatment. Further experiments showed that a 4-6 wk interval between thymectomy and wax D injection was necessary to show the enhancing effect. Such enhancement by thymectomy was also shown in Sprague-Dawley (SD) rats. The enhancing effect of thymectomy was abolished when thymocytes of normal syngeneic rats were transferred to thymectomized rats 7 days before the wax D inoculation. Severe arthritis was also produced in WKA rats pretreated with low dose (200 R) whole body irradiation, but not in those treated with higher doses (400-700 R). Apparently the enhancing effect is brought about by selective depletion of a certain population of T [thymus-derived] lymphocytes. The population depleted may be thymus dependent, short-lived and radiosensitive, the properties of which agree with those known for suppressor T lymphocytes. It appears that T cells could normally exert a regulatory effect on the development of adjuvant arthritis which might render these rat strains relatively less susceptible to this disease.