Immunoadjuvanticity of endotoxins and nontoxic derivatives for normal and leukemic immunocytes

Studies with FLV infected mice, a model for retrovirus induced acquired immunodeficiency, showed that intact lipopolysaccharide rich extract from Serratia marcescens as well as the nontoxic polysaccharide derivative free of lipid A were equally adjuvantic in enhancing antibody formation to sheep erythrocytes, both in vivo and in vitro. The PS-rich endotoxin derivative had little or no toxic activity in leukemic animals as occurred with intact endotoxin. The adjuvanticity of both the nontoxic polysaccharide derivative as well as the intact endotoxin in enhancing antibody formation in FLV infected mice was evident also in vitro when spleen cells from infected animals were immunized with sheep erythrocytes simultaneously with the polysaccharide in comparison with the LPS. Supernatants from normal spleen cells treated in vitro either with the polysaccharide or the intact endotoxin showed immunoenhancing helper activity for both normal and FLV infected spleen cells and this enhancing activity was due to IL-1 induced by either bacterial product. Thus the immunoenhancing soluble mediator, i.e., IL-1, is induced equally by PS or LPS and has immunorestorative activity for FLV infected animals. The potential value of the nontoxic PS as an immunoadjuvant in retrovirus immunosuppressed lymphoid cells is evident. The results of these studies suggest that further investigations concerning the nature and mechanism involved in such adjuvancticity is warranted.