Augmented followed by suppressed levels of natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity in mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii.

The cytotoxic activity of effector cells from mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii was tested in a 4- to 5-hr (51)Cr release assay, using RL [vertical male] 1 and YAC-1 target cells. They showed enhanced cytotoxicity with a peak on the 3rd day postinfection followed by suppression with a peak on the 12th day. The cytotoxicity seemed to be exhibited by natural killer (NK) cells because: (i) pretreatment of the effector cells with antiasialo GM(1) or antiasialo GM(2) plus complement abolished the cytotoxic activity; (ii) the altered cytotoxicity levels were also induced in nude mice; and (iii) the activity was elicited by nonadherent-nonphagocytic cells. The alteration occurred simultaneously in various lymphoid organs with a similar profile. Neither spleen nor bone marrow cells of 12-day-postinfected mice inhibited NK activity of uninfected mice. Culture fluids of the infected mouse spleen and bone marrow cells did not affect the normal mouse NK activity. The proportion of effector cells capable of binding to target cells was constant during the infection. There was no positive correlation between NK activity and serum interferon level; i.e., interferon was detected in the serum of 12-day-postinfected mice but not in that of 3-day-postinfected or uninfected mice. Passively administered interferon or polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid could not restore the suppressed NK activity of 12-day-postinfected mice. Moreover, in vitro treatment of spleen cells from 12-day-postinfected mice with interferon failed to restore the suppressed NK activity. These results suggested that after toxoplasma infection, defective sensitivity to interferon was induced in NK precursor cells, and differentiation to functionally active NK cells might be blocked.