IL-2 antibody production in lupus mice

We show here that antibody responses to IL-2 were detected in NZBWF1 and BXSB mice but not in MRL/lpr mice in vivo and in vitro. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS), in the presence or in the absence of T cells, also induced anti-IL-2 antibody production in NZBWF1 and BXSB mouse spleen cells but not in MRL/lpr spleen cells in vitro. Anti-IL-2 antibody production increased progressively with age. Supernatants (SN) obtained from NZBWF1 B cell cultures were able to elicit anti-IL-2 antibody production in LPS-stimulated spleen cells of normal BALB/c mice, whereas SN from NZBWF1 T cells culture had no detectable effect.