Role of suppressor cells in experimental pyelonephritis.

The effect of suppressor cells on the synthesis of antibody and development of antigen-responsive lymphocytes was studied in rabbits with pyelonephritis produced with Escherichia coli O6:K13:H1. The responsiveness of splenic lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), which was reduced early in infection, was restored by preincubation of cells with indomethacin. The response of lymphocytes to E. coli antigen was also suppressed early. Indomethacin increased response to PHA but did not affect response to antigen. Rabbits given indomethacin from days 1-3 of infection had a delay in suppressor cell activity until day 9, but this early inhibition had no effect on synthesis of immunoglobulin or antibody or on serum levels of IgM or IgG. Thus, activity of splenic suppressor cells in pyelonephritis can be diminished by indomethacin, an inhibitor of prostaglandin synthetase, but the suppressor cells do not appear to influence the immune response or activities of bone marrow-derived lymphocytes such as antibody formation in experimental pyelonephritis.