In vitro stimulation of naive mouse lymphocytes by Heligmosomoides polygyrus adult worm antigens induces the production of IgG1.

The production of high levels of IgG1, by mice chronically infected with the parasitic nematode Heligmosomoides polygyrus, has been documented for a number of years. In order to investigate this phenomenon, naive lymphocytes from B10.D2 mice were incubated in vitro with H. polygyrus adult worm homogenate (AWH) and the culture supernatants examined for immunoglobulin production. Stimulation of pooled naive splenocytes by AWH was found to produce IgG1, but not IgM, in an antigen dose dependent manner. Identical stimulation of splenocytes of individual inbred mice, indicated that this effect was reproducible but with considerable variation between mice. When the IgG1 produced was tested for specificity, it was found that there was little evidence that the immunoglobulin produced was able to bind to the inducing parasite antigens. Analysis of purified T cells reconstituted with splenocytes, demonstrated that T cells were the target lymphocytes of the stimulating molecule, contained within AWH. These results show that H. polygyrus AWH can induce the production of non-parasite specific IgG1 from naive splenocytes and that this production is crucially dependent upon the cell content of the in vitro culture. Furthermore, the production of IgG1 is not proportional to the degree of lymphocyte proliferation. It is suggested that at least part of the hypergammaglobulinaemia produced during a primary H. polygyrus infection, is due to this non-specific stimulation of mouse lymphocytes by the parasite.