Thrombocytopoietic response to immunothrombocytopenia in nude mice

Thrombocytopoiesis was evaluated in T cell-deficient nu/nu mice and in T cell-replete nu/+ controls to determine if abnormalities would be associated with the deficiency of T cells. Mice were studied in the unperturbed steady state and after acute immunothrombocytopenia was induced by an injection of guinea pig antimouse platelet serum (APS). The state of thrombocytopoiesis was determined from platelet counts, megakaryocyte size, megakaryocyte number, and numbers of Meg-CFC. Splenic lymphocytes were evaluated by response to the mitogens bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS), phytohemagglutinin (PHA), and concanavalin A (Con A). Hematocrits, reticulocyte counts, leukocyte counts, marrow cellularity, GM-CFC, and BFU-E also were measured. Steady state thrombocytopoiesis was identical in nu/nu and nu/+ mice. In response to an injection of APS, acute thrombocytopenia was followed by macromegakaryocytosis and rebound thrombocytosis in mice of both genotypes. Splenic Meg-CFC increased in nude mice after APS or an injection of normal guinea pig serum (NGpS), and splenic GM-CFC increased after APS. Neither Meg-CFC nor GM-CFC increased in the spleens of nu/+ mice, but they showed early transient increases in bone marrow that did not occur in nu/nu mice. Sporadic, but weak, mitogenic responses to PHA or Con A were occasionally observed with nu/nu spleen cells, but these did not correlate with the state of thrombocytopoiesis. The results demonstrated that platelet production was normal in nu/nu mice and that megakaryocytopoiesis and platelet production responded to the stimulus imposed by acute immunothrombocytopenia. Increases in megakaryocyte size and platelet production occurred independently of changes in numbers of Meg-CFC, GM-CFC, or BFU-E. A normal complement of T cells appears to be unnecessary for normal platelet production and its augmentation in response to the stimulus of acute immunothrombocytopenia in vivo.