Alveolar macrophages. II. Inhibition of lymphocyte proliferation by purified macrophages from rat lung.

Macrophages were prepared from the lung, peritoneal cavity and blood of normal, unstimulated rats from a number of strains. The macrophages were purified by adherence, and characterized via surface markers, enzyme activity and phagocytic capacity, and subsequently tested for activity in cultures of mitogen-stimulated syngeneic lymphocytes. Peritoneal macrophages and blood monocytes were mildly stimulatory, or ineffective in modulating mitogen-induced DNA synthesis; peritoneal macrophages reconstituted the blastogenic responses of macrophage-depleted lymph node cell cultures to normal limits. In contrast, alveolar macrophages were markedly inhibitory to lymphocyte proliferation; in some instances inhibitory activity was demonstrable when added alveolar macrophages comprised only 0.04% of the total cells in culture. Lymphocyte proliferation induced by T-cell mitogens was more susceptible to this inhibition than was proliferation induced by the B-cell mitogen LPS. Alveolar macrophages recovered from SPF rats, while less in number, exhibited comparable inhibitory activity. These results form part of an emerging picture picture of the normal alveolar macrophage as a potential 'suppressor' of T-cell activity in the lung.