Interleukin-1 and interleukin-2 production in resistant and susceptible inbred mice infected with Trypanosoma congolense.

In vitro production of interleukin-1 (IL-1) by LPS-stimulated adherent peritoneal exudate and spleen cells and alveolar macrophages, and interleukin-2 (IL-2) by concanavalin A-stimulated splenocytes were measured in resistant (C57BL/6J) and susceptible (A/J) inbred mice during the early stages of subacute infections with the African trypanosome, Trypanosoma congolense. Production of IL-1 was severely depressed in both mouse strains as early as 24 hr after intraperitoneal injection of bloodstream trypanosomes. Similarly, in both mouse strains, an early decline in IL-2 activity was observed, followed by partial recovery then depression to subnormal levels. These changes in measurable IL-1 and IL-2 activity in infected mice concurred with progressive depression in the spleen cell proliferative response to the mitogen concanavalin A.