Thioglycollate elicited macrophages demonstrate enhanced virus replication and depressed bacterial killing.

Thioglycollate elicited peritoneal macrophages of Balb/c mice exhibited minimal antibacterial activity against Listeria monocytogenes but were fully permissive for the replication of ectromelia virus. By comparison, resident and LPS elicited macrophages did not exhibited depressed antibacterial activity nor did they support viral replication. The thioglycollate effects were demonstrated in macrophages cultured in vitro and also in intact Balb/c mice. Mice given thioglycollate intraperitoneally and challenged by the same route suffered overwhelming virus and bacterial infections as a result of early local proliferation within peritoneal macrophages with subsequent spread to the liver. Balb/c mice challenged intravenously with similar doses of the virus of bacterial pathogen after administration of thioglycollate by the i.p. route did not succumb to either infection. Thus the ability of thioglycollate to compromise cellular host defenses against the infectious agents appears to be site specific; i.e. restricted to the peritoneal cavity where exudate macrophages and challenge inocula first come into contact.