Abstract
Experiments were designed to test the hypothesis that irradiation of the thymic epithelium is in part responsible for some of the many deficits in T-cell immunocompetence observed following total body irradiation and successful bone marrow transplantation. C3H/HeN mice were lethally irradiated (7.5 Gy) either immediately before or after the intracameral implantation of fetal thymic epithelial grafts. Syngeneic nucleated fetal liver cells were then provided for hematopoetic stem cell reconstitution. At various times post-irradiation, the animals were analyzed for recovery of T-cell dependent functions. In all instances the lymphoid cells obtained from animals whose thymic grafts were not irradiated showed significantly greater responses to T-cell mitogens and alloantigen stimulation. It was also determined that the capacity of these animals to elicit contact hypersensitivity responses was significantly greater when compared to animals whose thymic grafts had been irradiated. A reduction in the number of medullary epithelial cells was observed in the thymic tissue exposed to lethal irradiation, while no quantitative differences were found in the number of Thy 1+, L3T4+/Lyt2− or L3T4−/Lyt2+ cells in the peripheral lymphoid compartments of the two experimental groups. These data demonstrate that exposure of thymic epithelium to γ-irradiation has a negative influence on its ability to reconstitute T-cell function in lethally irradiated fetal liver reconstituted mice.
Article PDF
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Wiedmeier, S., Samlowski, W., Rasmussen, C. et al. RADIATION EFFECTS ON THYMIC EPITHELIUM ARE PARTIALLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE T-CELL DEFICITS OBSERVED IN BONE MARROW TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS. Pediatr Res 21 (Suppl 4), 320 (1987). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00919
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198704010-00919