T-lymphocyte involvement in abscess formation in nonimmune mice.

Athymic mice formed significantly smaller abscesses than euthymic mice in response to the intraperitoneal inoculation of an abscess-inducing mixture of Escherichia coli, Bacteroides fragilis, and autoclaved colonic contents, an abscess-potentiating agent. Adoptive transfer of nonimmune, Thy-1-positive spleen cells to athymic mice restored their ability to make abscesses of sizes similar to those in controls, indicating that T lymphocytes contribute to abscess formation in normal mice.