Suppression of IgE antibody response by preadministration of antigen-pulsed spleen cells. II. Characteristics of immediate tolerance induction.

Abstract

Intravenous administration of syngeneic spleen cells (SPC), briefly pulsed with antigen in vitro, resulted in a profound state of IgE antibody unresponsiveness. One of the mechanisms of this unresponsiveness is responsible for an immediate tolerance which is induced without any suppressor cells. Characteristics of this immediate tolerance were investigated. Administration of antigen-pulsed spleen cells 4 h before the immunization, suppressed the production of IgE antibody triggered by the subsequent immunization. Pretreatment with cyclophosphamide had no effect on this rapid suppression, and this suppressive state could not be transferred to normal syngeneic recipients by the injection of spleen cells from the tolerant mice used in our experiment. These observations suggest that suppressor cells do not play an important role in immediate tolerance. The extent of this immediate tolerance induced by the injection of antigen-pulsed SPC depends on the number of antigen-pulsed SPC and the dose of antigen to which SPC had been exposed. Injection route of antigen-pulsed SPC has a great influence on the induction of immediate tolerance. The order of suppressive extent is intravenous, greater than intraperitoneal greater than subcutaneous. This suppression is specific to the antigen pulsed to SPC. Carrier-specific T cells are the major target of suppression in immediate tolerance. Antigen-pulsed T cells induce immediate tolerance most effectively in the subpopulations of SPC.