Effect of uremia on lymphocyte transformation and chemiluminescence by spleen cells of normal and Cryptococcus neoformans-infected mice.

The effect of uremia on immune incompetence was studied. BALB/c mice were infected with a minimally virulent strain of Cryptococcus neoformans 6 weeks before immune assay. Uremia was induced by intramuscular injection of 0.15 ml of glycerol. Pooled spleen cells from four experimental groups (normal, uremic, infected, and infected and uremic) were assayed by lymphocyte transformation (LT) and luminol-dependent chemiluminescence (CL) 24 h after induction of uremia. A greater response to phytohemagglutinin and concanavalin A stimulation in tests of LT and CL was exhibited by uremic cells than by nonuremic cells; however, the presence of BALB/c uremic serum resulted in lower responses by both LT and CL. Infected mice showed a greater response to mitogens than did noninfected mice, but no significant stimulation in response to heat-killed whole cells of C. neoformans. Spleen cell populations of uremic mice had a lower viability and a different composition of spleen cell subpopulations than did cell preparations from nonuremic mice.