Stimulation of natural killer cells in two random-bred strains of athymic rats by interferon-inducing pyrimidinone.

We tested the effect of 2-amino-5-bromo-6 phenyl-4 pyrimidinol (ABPP), an interferon (IFN) inducer, on NK cell cytotoxicity in various tissues of athymic and euthymic rats. Significant augmentation of NK cell cytotoxicity was observed in SP, PB, PE, lung, and liver of adult rats. Cytotoxic potential was also induced by ABPP in young rats, not exhibiting cytotoxicity before the treatment. Cytotoxic cells were detected in nylon wool-filtered fraction, and were not removed by carbonyl iron treatment. Separation on Percoll gradient indicated that ABPP-stimulated cytotoxic SPC resided in LGL-enriched fractions and some of them exhibited less dense characteristics than SPC from untreated rats. The ABPP-mediated cytotoxicity was thymus-independent; both athymic and euthymic rats were equally augmented. The observation that only tissues displaying NK cell augmentation produced significant levels of IFN suggest possible involvement of IFN in ABPP-mediated augmentation.