MODIFICATION OF DELAYED-TYPE HYPERSENSITIVITY REACTIONS TO OVALBUMIN IN CYCLOSPORIN A-TREATED GUINEA-PIGS

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  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 48  (2) , 301-308
Abstract
Cyclosporin A (Cs A) administered daily (25 mg/kg per os) to outbred guinea pigs for 2 wk following immunization with ovalbumin (OVA; Cs A 0-13 [Cs A administered on days 0-13 following immunization]) caused profound suppression of 14-day delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) skin reactions. Very marked impairment of DTH was also found when Cs A was given for the 1st time 24 h before skin testing and at 6 and 24 h thereafter. Cs A 0-4 caused dose-related potentiation of 14-day skin responses. These changes in the magnitude and character of DTH in vivo were accompanied by striking alterations in lymphocyte transformation responses and in the extent of macrophage migration inhibition and lymphokine production. While Cs A 0-13 caused almost total suppression of the mitogenic responses of lymph node cells to PHA [phytohemagglutinin] and antigen, OVA-induced migration inhibition and production of the lymphokine inducing macrophage procoagulant activity (MPCA), Cs A 0-4 augmented these responses to OVA but did not affect lymphocyte transformation or lymphokine production in response to mitogen. Strain 13 guinea pigs treated with Cs A 0-4 showed depressed Arthus but augmented DTH responses to OVA. This significant increase in cell-mediated immunity could be passively transferred using spleen and peritoneal exudate cells, suggesting that, under these circumstances, Cs A 0-4 may interfere with the generation of a population of suppressor cells which regulate DTH reactions in the guinea pig.