Effect of gold sodium thiomalate on murine lymphocyte functions

The in vitro effects of gold sodium thiomalate (GTM) on various murine splenic lymphocytic functions were tested. The presence of GTM in cultures of splenic cells suppressed anti-hapten responses to both thymus-independent and thymus-dependent antigens. GTM also suppressed the in vitro generation of cytotoxic effector cells as well as the mitogenic response to both T cell and B cell mitogens. This suppression could not be reversed by the addition of irradiated spleen cells. Spleen cells exposed to GTM for 4 hr prior to culture also exhibited similarly suppressed functions, although their functional capacity could be fully restored by the addition of irradiated spleen cells. These results show that GTM inhibits both humoral and cellular immune mechanisms and appears to act primarily at the accessory (macrophage) cell level, with perhaps a secondary effect on T lymphocytes.