| Abstract: | Defective production of antibodies to herpes simplex virus (HSV) and low resistance to HSV infection in neonatal mice could be reconstituted by using macrophages from syngeneic adult mice plus concanavalin A-stimulated supernatants prepared from adult mouse spleen cells or adult human peripheral blood lymphocytes. In each supernatant, interleukin-2 (IL-2) produced by T helper cells (positive for Lyt 1.2 or OKT4) was necessary to provide reconstitution. Supernatants from neonatal mice failed to mediate reconstitution because of an age-dependent absence of production of IL-2. Although supernatants from neonatal human cell cultures contained IL-2, they failed to reconstitute production of antibody to HSV and resistance to HSV infection because of a suppressor of IL-2 activity. Early antibody production and antibody-dependent cellular effector function are important defenses against HSV infection and are critically defective in the neonate. |
