Modulation of Antibody-Dependent Cellular Cytotoxicity Against Chicken Erythrocyte Targets by Adriamycin and Daunorubicin

Abstract

Peritoneal exudate cells isolated from Adriamycin (AM) or daunorubicin (DM)-treated mice demonstrated an increased ability to mediate antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC) against antibody-coated chicken red blood cell targets. Following initial suppression of this cell-mediated function 3 days after a single injection, increased effector cell efficiency occurred to an equal degree in both groups of drug treated mice by day 10 compared to controls. This increase in ADCC activity occurred in parallel with a decrease in the total number of peritoneal cells recovered. It is hypothesized that the drugs acted to modulate ADCC in two ways: 1) suppression by induction of suppressor cell activity, and 2) enhancement by elimination of suppressor cells which resulted in increased effector activity of the remaining cells.