Inhibitory role of interleukin-6 in macrophage proliferation.

We have shown that there are two forms of progenitor cells for macrophages. The first is characterized by a short lag period (about 1 day) before initiating the cell cycle, forms large colonies, is found in the bone marrow, and is in the nonadherent fraction. The second progenitor cell, found primarily in the adherent cell fraction of bone marrow and in peripheral tissues, forms small colonies after 14 days. We investigated the effect of combining interleukin-6 (IL-6) with colony-stimulating factor 1 (CSF-I) on macrophage proliferation. We found that IL-6 inhibited the proliferation of both types of progenitor cells, as well as more differentiated macrophages. This inhibitory effect was reversible because macrophages could initiate a proliferative response after removal of IL-6 from the culture medium. The introduction of anti-IL-6 into macrophage cultures containing IL-6 allowed proliferation, indicating that the effect was IL-6 specific. These results suggest that IL-6 may play a regulatory role in vivo by suppressing the production of bone marrow and tissue macrophages.