Experimental autoimmune adrenalitis: a murine model for Addison's disease.

Experimental autoimmune adrenalitis was produced in mice by immunizing 8 times or more at intervals of 30 days with syngeneic adrenal extract mixed with Klebsiella O3 lipopolysaccharide (KO3 LPS) as a potent adjuvant. The cortex regions of the adrenal glands after the 8th injection were definitely infiltrated with polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN). The main infiltrates in the lesions after the 9th injection were replaced by mononuclear cells, such as small lymphocytes and macrophages, and further by fibrous connective tissues. There were no histological changes in the medullary regions. The repeated immunization developed the delayed type hypersensitivity to adrenal extract and production of anti-adrenocortical autoantibody in those immunized mice. Moreover, the adrenalitis could be produced in normal mice by transfer of spleen cells from hyperimmunized mice, suggesting the critical role of the cell-mediated immunity. This experimental model might be useful to study immunological phenomena in the pathogenesis of Addison's disease.