Comparison between macrophage activation and enhancement of nonspecific resistance to tumors by mycobacterial immunoadjuvants.

It has repeatedly been observed that various bacterial preparations could increase the host's resistance to tumors. It has also been shown that after nonspecific activation by BCG (bacillus Calmette-Guérin), peritoneal macrophages could inhibit in vitro the growth of neoplastic target cells. In the present study a fraction extracted from Myobacterium smegmatis and referred to as interphase material was tested in view of measuring its ability to activate macrophages in vitro and in vivo. This preparation was previously shown to protect mice against a syngeneic leukemia and to increase the immune response of the guinea pig. Other water-soluble adjuvants devoid of demonstrable antitumor activity in vivo were also assayed. The results argue in favor of a correlation between adjuvant activity and the capacity of activating macrophages. Moreover, interphase material administered in vivo consistently induced stronger and more persistent stimulations of macrophages than the other preparations assayed.