Cyclosporin A does not affect the in vitro induction of antigen‐specific delayed‐type hypersensitivity‐mediating T cells

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Abstract
The effect of cyclosporin A (CsA) on the in vitro induction of sheep red blood cell (SRBC)‐specific T cells mediating the delayed‐type hypersensitivity (DTH) reaction was studied. CsA (1 μg/ml) addition to the culture medium totally inhibits the in vitro anti‐SRBC humoral response but does not interfere with the generation of anti‐SRBC DTH‐mediating T (TDTH) cells. The induction of TDTH requires the presence of antigen and their expression is mediated selectively by the antigen used in the culture. The TDTH cells generated are Lyt‐1+, 2− and their induction occurs with a similar efficiency in CsA‐treated and untreated cultures: the frequency of the TDTH cells increases by a factor of 10 to 20 during the 6‐day incubation period. Lyt‐2+ suppressor cells are also generated in CsA‐treated or untreated cultures. Our results suggest that a small fraction of T cells can be driven into the proliferative pathway by antigen even in presence of CsA.

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