Active components of intestinal bacteria for abdominal irradiation-induced inhibition of lung metastases.

We have previously reported that abdominal irradiation of mice inhibited lung metastases of a weakly immunogenic fibrosarcoma, and that transmigration after the irradiation of Enterobacter cloacae into mesenteric lymph nodes coincided with this phenomenon. In this paper, we show that Escherichia coli as well as E. cloacae reduce the number of metastatic lung colonies when these bacteria were intravenously injected into mice prior to the tumour cell challenge. The inhibition was caused not only by the administration of living bacteria but also by that of killed bacteria. Bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a component of membrane, replaced at least in part the effect of whole bacteria. Transfer of spleen cells from LPS-treated mice into intact recipients prominently inhibited metastatic development in the recipient mice. 'Cross transfer' between LPS high responders and LPS low responders suggested an indirect activity of transferred spleen cells. The antimetastatic activity of LPS depended on the tumour cell type; metastasis of fibrosarcomas was extensively inhibited by LPS irrespective of tumour immunogenicity while that of adenocarcinomas was only slightly inhibited. These results suggest that non-immunological mechanisms are involved in the antimetastatic activity of LPS.