Suppression of interleukin-2 production by macrophages in genetically susceptible mice infected with Leishmania major.

Spleen cells from BALB/c mice infected with 2 X 10(7) L. major promastigotes and developing progressive disease produced significantly lower levels of interleukin-2 (IL-2) in response to concanavalin A stimulation than did spleen cells from uninfected mice. In contrast, spleen cells from sublethally irradiated and infected mice, which were able to contain lesion development, produced significantly higher levels of IL-2. The increase in IL-2 production closely paralleled lesion regression. Mice protectively immunized by four intravenous injections with lethally irradiated promastigotes also produced enhanced levels of IL-2, which were sustained after challenge infection. In contrast, spleen cells from BALB/c mice given four s.c. injections of irradiated promastigotes produced high levels of IL-2 before but not after infection. These mice eventually produced levels of IL-2 indistinguishable from those of unimmunized mice with progressive disease. There is thus an inverse relation between disease progression and the ability of spleen cells to produce IL-2. Spleen cells from mice with uncontrolled disease not only produced lower levels of IL-2 but also impaired IL-2 production by normal spleen cells. The ability to inhibit IL-2 was abrogated by passing the cells through a Sephadex G-10 column, removal of plastic adherent cells, and removal of carbonyl iron-ingesting cells. Furthermore, Sephadex G-10 column-treated and plastic adherent, nonspecific esterase-positive spleen cells from mice with progressive disease were able to suppress IL-2 production by normal splenic T cells. The suppressive activity of the adherent cells was not affected by treatment with anti-Thy-1.2 antibody and complement. In contrast, adherent spleen cells from uninfected mice were devoid of such suppressor activity. The depressed IL-2 production by spleen cells from progressively infected mice could be restored to that of normal spleen cells by the addition of indomethacin to the culture. There was however, no correlation between IL-2 production and IL-1 activity in infected or immunized BALB/c mice. Thus, it appears that the suppression of IL-2 production is mediated by prostaglandins elaborated by macrophages from chronically infected mice.