Chemical Dissection of the Primary and Secondary in Vitro Antibody Responses with Butylated Hydroxyanisole and Gallic Acid

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
The effects of butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), an antioxidant food additive and gallic acid (GA), a food additive metabolite, were further studied in the Mishell-Dutton in vitro system. BHA added to cultures at 50-75 ug/ml suppressed the primary IgM plaque-forming cell (PFC) response to the thymus-dependent antigen sheep erythrocytes (SRBC). The suppression was not due to overt cytotoxicity and could not be reversed by adding 2-mercaptoethanol (2ME), a macrophage (MØ) substitute, to the system. Spleen cell cultures from mice primed in vivo with SRBC (secondary IgM response) were also suppressed by 50-75 ug/ml BHA; however, the PFC response was in part restored by adding 2ME to cultures at the start of the culture period. The data suggest that BHA, at certain critical doses, is preferentially suppres-sive to non-primed (virgin) B- and T-lymphocytes and Mø. Substituting 2ME for adversely affected Mø can restore the response of the more BHA-resistant antigen-primed B- and T-lymphocytes. GA suppressed both the primary and secondary PFC responses, but in contrast to BHA, 2ME fully restored the response in both instances; this suggests that GA has no effect on primed and non-primed B- or T-lymphocytes, but is suppressive because of its specific effects on Mø-dependent lymphocyte functions.