Setting : The relationship between alveolar macrophages (AM) and lymphocytes may be important in the early establishment of infection with Mycobacterium tuberculosis . AM in several species have been shown to suppress lymphoproliferation by producing inhibitors that include nitric oxide (NO).

Objective : To study this phenomenon in the guinea pig, the mitogen-induced proliferation of splenic lymphocytes was quantified under various conditions of co-culture with resident AM.

Results : Guinea pig AM consistently and profoundly suppressed proliferation in the co-cultures at AM:lymphocyte ratios of 1:4 or greater. The inclusion of a NO synthesis inhibitor, N-monomethyl-L arginine (NMMA), in the co-culture medium did not influence the suppression of Con A-induced lymphoproliferation by resident guinea pig AM. No nitrite could be detected in supernatant fluids of co-cultured AM and splenocytes. Attempts to stimulate guinea pig AM with LPS in combination with recombinant murine and human IFN--γ, infection with live Listeria monocytogenes , or incubation with the supernatants from ConA-activated guinea pig lymphocytes failed to generate NO metabolites. The addition of catalase or indomethacin to the Con A-induced AM-splenocyte co-cultures, to inhibit hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) or prostaglandin E₂(PGE₂), respectively, did not counteract the suppression mediated by AM. Cell contact was necessary for the co-cultures to generate their inhibitory effects on lymphoproliferation, however, the suppression was actually mediated, at least in part, by soluble factors produced in the co-cultures.

Conclusion : These results suggest that resident alveolar macrophages suppress lymphocyte proliferation in the guinea pig, but that the effect is not mediated by NO, PGE₂or H₂O₂. The failure to demonstrate NO synthesis under a variety of stimulatory conditions, which resulted in macrophage activation, suggests that the guinea pig is similar to the human in that regard.