Antibody-mediated enhancement of Legionella pneumophila-induced interleukin 1 activity

The ability of antibody specific for Legionella pneumophila to enhance the induction of interleukin 1 (IL-1) production by murine peritoneal, splenic, and pulmonary macrophages in response to the bacterium was examined. Two preparations of L. pneumophila were utilized, a formalin-killed whole-cell preparation and viable bacteria. We measured both secreted (sIL-1) and cell membrane-associated (mIL-1) activities after incubation of the macrophages with the bacterial preparations in the presence or absence of the antibody. Both bacterial preparations induced sIL-1 and mIL-1 activities in each of the macrophage populations tested. These activities were generally enhanced by pretreating the bacteria with antibody, with the greatest enhancing activity observed for the formalin-killed preparations at lower doses of bacteria.