Immunosuppression induced by chemicals requiring metabolic activation in mixed cultures of rat hepatocytes and murine splenocytes.

Primary cultures of adult rat hepatocytes (Fischer 344) were used as an in vitro metabolic activation system in immunotoxicological assays. Rat hepatocytes were isolated by a collagenase perfusion technique and cultured for 20 to 24 hr to allow the formation of a monolayer on collagen-coated plastic petri dishes. Spleen cells isolated from (C57BL/6 X C3H)F1 mice were cocultured with the hepatocytes along with the chemicals. Cyclophosphamide (CP) and Aflatoxin B1 (AFB1) were effectively activated in this coculture system and produced a dose-related suppression of the in vitro antibody responses to LPS, DNP-Ficoll, and SRBC in 3 hr. Neither CP (1 mM) nor AFB1 (10(-4) M) cultured with spleen cells alone produced any effects. Both CP and AFB1 also produced a dose-related suppression of the proliferative responses to LPS, Con A, and PHA. In contrast, up to 100 mM of N-nitrosodimethylamine (DMN) did not suppress any of these assays after a 3-hr incubation in the coculture system. These results indicate that a coculture system can be used to characterize the activity of immunosuppressive chemicals requiring metabolic activation.