Increasing the sensitivity of murine splenic cells to interleukin-2 after in vivo exposure to lipopolysaccharide, muramyl dipeptide and concanavalin A

Changes in sensitivity of the murine spleen cells to interleukin-2 (IL-2) after exposure to lipopolysaccharide (LPS), muramyldipeptide (MDP) and their combinations were studied. The possible effect of concanavalin A (Con A) administered in vivo on increasing sensitivity of the lymphoid cells to IL-2 was also studied. Exposure to LPS, MDP and their combinations led to an over 2-fold increase in responses of the spleen cells to the effect of IL-2 as compared to the controls. When Con A was administered to mice intravenously in a high dose, sensitivity of their spleen cells to IL-2 markedly increased in 18 hours.