Potentiation of delayed-type hypersensitivity by pertussigen or cyclophosphamide with release of different lymphokines.

The effects of lymphokine production of two agents known to potentiate delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), pertussigen (pertussis toxin) (PT) and cyclophosphamide (CY) have been investigated. These two agents were administered to immunized mice. Subsequently, lymph nodes and spleen cells were exposed to specific antigen in vitro. The resulting culture supernatants were assayed for the presence of lymphokines. Only supernatants of cells from the mice given PT contained appreciable quantities of interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and stimulated cells of the monocyte-like WEHI-265 cell line to produce procoagulant activator and plasminogen activator. On the other hand, CY was more effective than PT on the production of interleukin-3 (IL-3). Both adjuvants had small enhancing effects on the production of interleukin-2 (IL-2). With either adjuvant, the cell populations induced had a similarly enhanced capacity to transfer DTH. These results demonstrate that the capacity of cells to transfer DTH does not necessarily correlate with their release of particular lymphokines. The potentiation of DTH by cyclophosphamide did not depend on significantly enhanced generation of IFN-gamma, procoagulant activator, or plasminogen activator. The amount of IFN-gamma in the culture supernatants correlated with their capacity to produce procoagulant activator and plasminogen activator, whereas the amount of IL-2 and IL-3 did not.