Opposing effects of glucocorticoids on interferon-gamma-induced murine macrophage Fc receptor and Ia antigen expression

Two macrophage markers associated with differentiation are the Fc receptor (FcR) and the Ia antigen. Expression of these markers is increased with IFN-gamma treatment, although some evidence suggests that the induction pathway for Fc receptor and Ia antigen expression may be dissociable. In this study, the effect of glucocorticoids on basal and IFN-induced levels of Fc-mediated phagocytosis and Ia antigen expression was investigated. Macrophages incubated for 2 days with glucocorticoids alone showed no change in basal levels of Fc-mediated phagocytosis. However, incubation with glucocorticoids plus IFN-gamma resulted in increased Fc-mediated phagocytosis and binding to a much greater extent than IFN-gamma treatment alone. This enhancement was specific for IFN-gamma, because the IFN-beta-induced increase in Fc-mediated phagocytosis and binding was not affected by glucocorticoids. In contrast to the expression of Fc receptor capacity, both basal and IFN-gamma-induced levels of Ia antigen expression were inhibited by glucocorticoids. The glucocorticoid effect on these two markers was not observed with other steroid hormones, nor was it altered by inhibitors of the arachidonic acid pathway. The findings of this study provide additional evidence that induction of Fc receptor and Ia antigen by IFN-gamma occurs by different mechanisms.