Suppressive effect of a mouse testicular extract on lymphocyte activation

Abstract

The effect of mouse testicular extract (TE) on lymphocyte activation was investigated. TE, in the dose range 75-600 micrograms ml-1, suppressed significantly the blastogenic response of splenocytes to concanavalin A (Con-A), pokeweed mitogen (PWM), phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS). TE also suppressed the blastogenic response of B-cells to LPS and of T-cells to PHA in a dose-dependent manner as well as suppressing the mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). Pretreatment of splenocytes with TE did not however, completely suppress their blastogenic response to Con-A, when the treated cells were washed prior to culturing. Furthermore, TE did not inhibit the on-going blastogenesis of splenocytes that had been activated already with Con-A for 48 h. Splenocytes obtained from TE-treated mice remained capable of responding to Con-A stimulation, whereas they did not respond to listerial antigens when mice were immunized with Listeria monocytogenes together with TE. The effects of TE were enhanced significantly by heating to 100 degrees C, but were resistant to pronase, RNase and DNase. These results suggest that TE affects non-specifically the stage of lymphocyte sensitization to antigens or mitogens.

The Immunophysiology of Male Reproduction

“…965,1023 Similar inhibitory effects on lymphocytes in vitro have been observed using whole testis extracts from mice. 1024 Early investigations established that this inhibition could not be attributed to androgens, 1023,1025 or to other candidate molecules known to be present in testicular interstitial fluid, such as PGE 2 , 1026 TGFβ family members, 274,1027 or IL10. 1028 Purification of this activity established that the lymphocyte inhibition was due to the presence of several lyso-glycerophosphatidylcholines (lyso-GPCs) in the interstitial fluid.…”

Ipsilateral right testicular metastasis from renal cell carcinoma in a responder patient to interleukine‐2 treatment

“…Furthermore, testicular extracts in animal models suppress lymphocyte activation 7 . Sertoli cell products inhibit the capacity of B and T lymphocyte to proliferate in response to mitogenic stimuli inducing a G1 phase block 8,9,10 . To test this hypothesis, we carried out immunohistochemistry to detect the presence and check the functional status of metastasis infiltrating T‐lymphocytes.…”