Studies on the mechanism of systemic suppression of contact hypersensitivity by UVB radiation. II. Differences in the suppression of delayed and contact hypersensitivity in mice.

Exposing mice to UV radiation in the UVB range (280-320 nm) causes a selective immune suppression that contributes to the development of UVB-induced skin cancers. Among the immune responses suppressed by UVB irradiation are contact and delayed hypersensitivity reactions to haptens administered at unexposed sites. In these studies we provide evidence that delayed and contact hypersensitivity to the same hapten are not equivalent reactions and that they are suppressed in UVB-irradiated mice by 2 different mechanisms. This conclusion is based on the findings that: suppression of contact hypersensitivity could not be overcome by immunizing UVB-irradiated mice with hapten-coupled antigen-presenting cells derived from normal donors; and treatment of UVB-irradiated mice with methylprednisolone before immunization prevented the suppression of delayed hypersensitivity but had no effect on the suppression of contact hypersensitivity. The decreased ability to induce contact hypersensitivity in UVB-irradiated mice could be transferred to x-irradiated mice by reconstituting them with spleen cells from UVB-irradiated donors. The induction of hapten-specific suppressor cells, however, required both UVB irradiation and priming with hapten. Based on these results, we postulate that UVB irradiation induces a population of suppressor-inducer cells with specificity for a modified skin antigen and that this antigen serves as a carrier molecule for haptens that induce contact hypersensitivity and for tumor-specific transplantation antigens on UVB-induced tumors.