The effect of ozone and photochemical oxidants on the interferon production by tonsillar lymphocytes

Influence of IL-6 on proliferation and differentiation of tonsillar lymphocytes and detection of IL-6 producing cells in tonsil

When tonsillar B cells were cultured in the presence of exogenous interleukin-6 (IL-6), a small portion of them differentiated into plasma cells which seemed to have IL-6 receptors on their surfaces. The number of plasma cells tended to be greater in the tonsils of children than in the tonsils of adults. When tonsillar cells collected by Ficoll-Conray's method were cultured in medium containing IL-6, T cells differentiated and the number of activated T cells increased. Of the four subsets of T cells, this effect of IL-6 was strongest on cytotoxic T cells. IL-6-mediated proliferation and activation of cytotoxic T cells tended to be greater in the tonsils of children than in those of adults. IL-6 is produced in some tonsillar macrophages. The number of macrophages producing IL-6 was very different in different subjects. However, the number of macrophages producing IL-6 in tonsils of children tended to be greater than the number in tonsils of adults.

Subsets of tonsillar lymphocytes and activated cells in each subset analysed by three-color flow cytometry

Among the four subsets of tonsillar T cells, active cells were most abundant in the helper T subset, followed by the cytotoxic T, inducer T, and suppressor T subsets in order of decreasing cell count. The number of active cells was very small in the suppressor T subset. Plasma cells (PCA-1-positive cells) accounted for only about 3% of tonsillar cells. However, nearly half of the tonsillar B cells were activated (positive for Ba, being either Ba+/IgD+ or Ba+/IgD-). Ba-positive cells were hardly found in the population of peripheral-blood B cells. Ba+/IgD+ cells, which are ready to be transformed to cyclic cells or dormant cells depending upon the degree of stimulation, outnumbered cyclic cells. Many Ba+/IgD+ cells were present even in the small tonsils of adults, although these cells were very scarce in the peripheral blood. These findings show that the tonsil is prepared to perform immunologic functions in prompt response to external stimuli.

Subsets of tonsillar lymphocytes and activated cells in each subset analysed by two-color flow cytometry

We analysed subsets of tonsillar lymphocytes and activated cells in each subset by two-color flow cytometry. There were many helper T cells (CD 4+ leu 8-) and few inducer T cells (CD 4+ leu 8+) in the tonsil. The situation was the reverse in the peripheral blood. The tonsil had few suppressor T cells (CD 8+ CD 11+). The proportion of activated cells (HLA-DR+) was low in the peripheral blood and high in the tonsil. In the tonsil, the ratio of cells with transferrin receptors to total lymphocytes was higher in the B than in the T subset, and higher in the subset of CD 4+ than in that of CD 8+ cells. Activated and proliferating lymphocytes were more abundant in the tonsils of children than in those of adults and more abundant in patients with hyperplastic tonsillitis than in those with recurrent tonsillitis.

Human interferon production in tonsil and adenoid tissue cultures

Using Sendai virus as an inducer, tonsil lymphocytes produce alpha interferon (IFN-alpha) 1,000 times more potent than that reportedly induced using Newcastle disease virus in such lymphoid tissue. Alpha and gamma interferons can be produced from tonsil and adenoid lymphocyte cultures in amounts comparable with those produced from cultures of pooled peripheral blood lymphocytes. Lymphocytes from both tonsils and adenoids are equal in the amount of IFN each produces. The IFN-producing potential of lymphocytes appears constant in humans between the ages of 3 and 38 years and is not adversely affected during the first trimester of pregnancy. Since approximately one billion lymphocytes are obtained from each of these tissues, they represent a potential source of significant quantities of IFN for investigational use.