Regulation of B-lymphocyte production in the bone marrow: role of macrophages and the spleen in mediating responses to exogenous agents.

B-Lymphocyte production in mouse bone marrow can be stimulated by administering a variety of foreign materials in vivo. The nature and location of cells mediating this effect have now been studied, using assays of lymphocyte renewal and pre-B-cell proliferation. Pretreatment of mice with silica, to depress macrophage function, abolished the stimulation of small lymphocyte renewal produced by administering either sheep red blood cells (SRBC) or mineral oil and reduced the response to bovine serum albumin. The response was still abolished when silica was given 6 or 24 hr, but not 48 hr, after SRBC. Splenectomy prevented the stimulation of marrow lymphocyte renewal when performed either 4 weeks before or up to 72 hr after SRBC injection. The stimulation of pre-B-cell proliferation was similarly prevented by pretreatment with either silica or splenectomy. The results indicate that the wave of increased B-lymphocyte production after SRBC injection depends for the first 2-3 days upon silica-sensitive, spleen-dependent mechanisms, suggesting an early mediation by splenic macrophages. Primary B-lymphocyte production in vivo may thus normally be stimulated by exposure to external environmental agents acting indirectly on bone marrow B-cell progenitors via cellular reactions in peripheral lymphoid tissues.