Killing of Mycobacterium microti by immunologically activated macrophages

Pathogenic mycobacteria such as tubercle bacilli are usually killed when immunity is developed in an infected animal or man. It has long been thought that macrophages are responsible for this killing but all attempts to demonstrate this in vitro have been unsuccessful 1–7 , which has severely hamper...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Nature (London) 1981-09, Vol.293 (5827), p.69-70
Main Authors: Walker, Linda, Lowrie, D. B.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Biological Products - immunology
Cytotoxicity, Immunologic
Humanities and Social Sciences
Hydrogen Peroxide - metabolism
Immunity, Cellular
letter
Macrophages - immunology
Mice
multidisciplinary
Mycobacterium - immunology
Mycobacterium microti
Science
Science (multidisciplinary)
Spleen - immunology
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Summary:Pathogenic mycobacteria such as tubercle bacilli are usually killed when immunity is developed in an infected animal or man. It has long been thought that macrophages are responsible for this killing but all attempts to demonstrate this in vitro have been unsuccessful 1–7 , which has severely hampered our understanding of how immunity to tuberculosis is expressed. In particular, indirect evidence that hydrogen peroxide from macrophages might kill tubercle bacilli in vivo 8–11 could not be properly tested. Recent studies have shown that macrophages can be activated by exposure to soluble products of immunologically stimulated T lymphocytes (lymphokines) so that they acquire a new or enhanced ability to kill infectious agents and tumour cells 12–15 . Hydrogen peroxide has been implicated as a key macrophage product needed for killing 13–16 . We report here that normal mouse peritoneal macrophages can be activated in vitro by lymphokines to kill Mycobacterium microti , the natural agent of tuberculosis in voles, and that added catalase protects the bacilli from killing.
ISSN:0028-0836
1476-4687
DOI:10.1038/293069a0