Investigations into the mechanism of immunosuppression caused by acute treatment with O,O,S-trimethyl phosphorothioate. II. Effect on the ability of murine macrophages to present antigen.

Acute administration of 10 mg/kg O,O,S-trimethyl phosphorothioate (OOS-TMP) for 24 h has been shown to suppress the in vitro generation of cytotoxic T lymphocyte responses and antibody-secreting cells to sheep red blood cells and to increase interleukin-2 production. Macrophages were shown to be the splenic cell population most affected by OOS-TMP pretreatment. In this report, the ability of macrophages from OOS-TMP-treated animals to function in antigen presentation was shown to be significantly decreased. In addition, macrophages from treated animals had increased phagocytic capability and interleukin-l production. However, the percentage of Ia-positive macrophages present in splenic populations was decreased following OOS-TMP treatment. A decrease in antigen presenting ability and the number of Ia-positive macrophages may explain the reversible suppression in cytotoxic T lymphocytes and antibody responses reported previously.