Intragonadal regulation of immune system functions

Immune responses within the mammalian gonads, and in particular the testis, are deficient in spite of adequate lymphatic drainage and the presence of lymphocytes and MHC II+ macrophages. There is considerable evidence from in vivo and in vitro studies that this 'suppression' of the immune system may be due, at least in part, to localized inhibition or regulation of normal lymphocyte and/or macrophage functions within the gonads. In the testis, both steroidal and non-steroidal products of the Leydig cells, including androgens, endorphins, and inhibin-related proteins, have been implicated in mediating this activity. In turn, a number of immune cell cytokines affect steroidogenic cell function in vitro. The studies described in this paper indicated that [3H]-thymidine incorporation by adult rat thymocytes in vitro was inhibited by conditioned medium collected from short-term incubations of Percoll-purified adult rat Leydig cells, but stimulated by testicular interstitial fluid and by conditioned medium collected from short-term incubations of adult rat seminiferous tubules. The factors responsible for these effects on thymocyte function appeared to be of large molecular weight, as they were retained by ultrafiltration membranes with exclusion limits of 10,000 or 30,000 daltons. It is hypothesized that an 'immunosuppressive' mechanism, principally mediated by non-steroidal factors secreted by the steroidogenic cells of the gonadal interstitial tissue, exists within the gonads in order to prevent activation of the immune system by germ cell antigens and growth factors associated with germ cell proliferation and differentiation. This mechanism probably acts in parallel with normal antigen-specific tolerance mechanisms operating at the gonadal level. As immune responses to germ cells are believed to be a significant causative factor in infertility, particularly in men, this represents an important area for further study.