EFFECT OF SPLENECTOMY ON THE IMMUNE-RESPONSE OF BALB-C MICE BEARING AN IMMUNOGLOBULIN M PLASMACYTOMA (TEPC-183)

  • 1 January 1979
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 39  (9) , 3783-3787
Abstract
Mice bearing TEPC-183, an immunoglobulin M(.kappa.)-secreting plasmacytoma, exhibited severe suppression of their immune responses to thymus-dependent and thymus-independent antigens, 2,4-dinitrophenyl, and type 3 pneumococcal polysaccharide SSS-lll. This immunosuppression was not lifted by splenectomy of tumor-bearing mice or prevented by spleen removal prior to tumor injection. Splenectomy before or after tumor implantation further accentuated the immunosuppressed state of tumor bearers and even depressed immune response of normal mice. A secondary immune response of normal mice 34-51 days after splenectomy was still reduced. Spleen cells may play a dual role. While splenectomy may remove a source of suppressor cells in tumor-bearing mice, it also eliminated a major source of antibody-producing cells and resulted in reduced immune responses of normal and TEPC-183-bearing mice. These findings have clinical relevance since splenectomy is used as a therapeutic and diagnostic procedure in neoplastic lymphoproliferative disorders.