Regulation of Fc receptor and major histocompatibility complex antigen expression on isolated rat microglia by tumour necrosis factor, interleukin-1 and lipopolysaccharide: effects on interferon-gamma induced activation.

Isolated rat brain microglia display enhanced expression of Fc receptors on treatment with interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), tumour necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), interleukin-1 (IL-1) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS), whereas major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigen expression is enhanced only by IFN-gamma. Although TNF and LPS individually have no effect on MHC expression by microglia, they both antagonize IFN-gamma-induced expression. The enhanced expression of Fc receptors observed in the presence of IFN-gamma, TNF or LPS is significantly inhibited by the combination of IFN-gamma with either LPS or TNF. IL-1 alpha has little effect on IFN-gamma-induced MHC or Fc receptor expression by microglia. Peritoneal macrophages behave similarly to microglia, with the notable exception that IL-1 alpha enhances IFN-gamma-induced FcR expression. These observations suggest that the functional activity of microglia during inflammation or demyelination in the central nervous system can be influenced by the changing profile of cytokines present during lesion development.