Experimental murine hypersensitivity pneumonitis.

To establish a model of experimental hypersensitivity pneumonitis (EHP) in mice and to examine the influence of genetic background on the pulmonary inflammatory response to Micropolyspora faeni, we determined the responses of C57BL/6, SJL/J, and C3H/HeJ mice to intratracheal (i.t.) injections of M. faeni. Recipient animals received lymph node cells (LNC), peritoneal exudate cells (PEC), and spleen cells (SC) from sensitized mice cultured in vitro with M. faeni. Controls included serum containing anti-M. faeni antibody; uncultured SC from M. faeni-sensitized donors, and M. faeni-cultured SC from ovalbumin (OA)-sensitized donors. Recipients were challenged i.t. with M. faeni or normal saline 48 hr after the cell or serum transfer. We developed a model of EHP in mice. Increasing amounts of i.t. M. faeni were associated with increasing extent of pulmonary inflammation with no difference between the mouse strains. There was substantial increase of the extent of pulmonary abnormalities in the animals receiving cultured SC. The number of transferred cells and the M. faeni concentration correlated with the extent of pulmonary histologic abnormalities. Cultured PEC and LNC could transfer EHP in C3H/HeJ mice only. Serum containing anti-M. faeni antibody, cultured SC from OA-sensitized donors, and noncultured SC from sensitized donors could not transfer EHP. We conclude that it is possible to adoptively transfer EHP.