Bacterial lipopolysaccharide activates suppressor B lymphocytes.

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) extracted from the outer cell wall of Gram-negative bacteria modulates the immune response in vivo and in vitro. Depending on the experimental conditions, it may enhance or inhibit the production of humoral antibody. The pathway by which LPS suppresses antibody production is examined in this study. C57BL/6 spleen cells incubated with LPS (greater than 10 micrograms/ml) not only fail to produce antibody to sheep erythrocytes in vitro but also, when transferred 24 hr after stimulation with LPS, inhibit antibody production in spleen cells that were not treated with LPS. This observation suggested that LPS activates suppressor cells. We have identified a suppressor B cell as mediator of LPS-induced immune suppression and determined its cell surface antigen phenotype as Ig+, Ia+, CR+, Ly-B-2+,PC1-.LPS does not induce suppressor macrophages or suppressor T cells, nor are macrophages or T cells required for the generation of suppressor B cells by LPS.