Effect of alveolar macrophages on Toxoplasma gondii.

As pulmonary involvement can occur in disseminated toxoplasmosis in immunosuppressed patients, studies were initiated to define local mechanisms of resistance of the lung to Toxoplasma gondii. Alveolar macrophages were obtained from normal mice and mice chronically infected with T. gondii by bronchopulmonary lavage and cultured in vitro. Although normal alveolar macrophages were difficult to infect with Toxoplasma, they supported intracellular multiplication of this organism. When exposed to Toxoplasma that had been pretreated with heat-inactivated serum containing specific antibody, the number of intracellular organisms increased remarkably, and the macrophages destroyed the coated parasites. After development of chronic infections with Toxoplasma, there was a transient period during which a striking increase in numbers of alveolar macrophages was observed in lavage specimens. These macrophages differed from those of normal alveolar macrophages. There was a greater percentage of large cells, a greater tendency to spread on glass, and an increased number of intracellular Toxoplasma, and the cells were activated to kill or inhibit multiplication of the parasite. During the period when activated macrophages were demonstrable in bronchopulmonary washings, histological changes in the lungs revealed a marked mononuclear cell infiltrate. These studies support a role for the activated alveolar macrophage as an effector in resistance of the lung to infection with Toxoplasma.