ENHANCED FUNCTIONAL-CAPACITY OF THE PERITONEAL-MACROPHAGES AS ANTIGEN-PRESENTING CELLS AFTER ACLACINOMYCIN TREATMENT IN MICE

Aclacinomycin (ACM) is an oncostatic of the anthracycline family, larg ely used in patients and experimentally in mice. ACM has been reported to enhance phagocytosis, secretion of free oxygen radicals and of int erleukin 1. Its injection is also followed by an increase of the cytot oxic and cytostatic activity of murine peritoneal macrophages. In the present work we investigated whether ACM modifies the antigen-presenti ng cell capacity of murine peritoneal macrophages. Purified T lymphocy tes were cultured with peritoneal macrophages from either normal or AC M treated mice (4 mg/kg day -4) which were previously incubated with p hytohemagglutinin. The T cell proliferative response was greater in cu ltures with normal macrophages, indicating that macrophages from ACM-t reated mice had a better antigen presenting activity than normal untre ated macrophages.