Macrophage activation and mobilization in nude mice by corynebacterium parvum and pyran: A functional and histologic study

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Abstract
Peritoneal macrophages from both congenitally athymic (“nude”) mice and heterozygous littermates were activated by pyran copolymer or by Corynebacterium parvum vaccine. C parvum did not produce an increase in the number of peritoneal macrophages in nude mice, although it did produce a typical splenomegaly. Pyran produced an even greater influx of macrophages in the peritoneum of nude mice, when compared to normal mice, but did not produce splenomegaly in nude mice. Pyran‐ and C parvum‐induced splenomegaly were accompanied by an increase in the apparent T‐cell population of germinal centers. These experiments indicate that: 1) Macrophage activation, perse, by either C parvum or pyran, is a thymus‐independent event; 2) Macrophage mobilization, as determined by organomegaly or PEC number, does not have an obligatory requirement for T‐cells (depending on the agent used); 3) Macrophage activation may not always correlate with mobilization; and 4) Mechanisms for attracting and sequestering macrophages in the peritoneum may be different from those of the spleen.