Type 2 helper T cell-type cytokines and the development of "infectious" tolerance in rat cardiac allograft recipients.

CD4-targeted therapy with a nondepleting RIB-5/2 mAb abrogates accelerated (< 36 h) rejection in presensitized LEW rats and results in permanent acceptance of LBNF1 cardiac allografts in conjunction with the features of infectious tolerance. This study examined the role and functional significance of the Th1 and Th2 cytokine network and systemic host allospecific Ab (allo-Ab) responses in the development of the infectious tolerance pathway in this model. Long term survival of cardiac transplants in rats treated with the tolerizing RIB-5/2 mAb regimen was accompanied by profound depression of Th1 (IL-2 and IFN-gamma) and Th2 (IL-4, IL-10) cytokines at the graft site, as shown by competitive template reverse transcription-PCR and immunohistochemistry. In contrast, the expression of Th2-type cytokines was selectively up-regulated after transfer of infectious tolerance by spleen cells into new generations of primary and secondary test recipients. Donor-specific circulating IgM allo-Ab responses were diminished throughout, and the switch from IgM to IgG allo-Ab was completely prevented in tolerant hosts, as shown by flow cytometry. The demonstration that treatment with cytolytic anti-CD4, but not anti-CD8, mAb recreated rejection of test cardiac allografts with simultaneous down-regulation of IL-4 mRNA/protein expression underlines the importance of this cytokine in the development of infectious tolerance. Hence, this report documents distinct cytokine elaboration patterns in animals tolerized by CD4-targeted therapy compared with those rendered tolerant by putative regulatory Th2-like cells. The mechanism of tolerance in anti-CD4 mAb-treated hosts appears distinct from that operating in the absence of mAb, when the tolerant state is being transferred in an infectious manner to new cohorts of test recipients.