Resistance of Natural Killer T Cell–Deficient Mice to Systemic Shwartzman Reaction

The generalized Shwartzman reaction in mice which had been primed and challenged with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) depends on interleukin (IL)-12–induced interferon (IFN)-γ production at the priming stage. We examined the involvement in the priming mechanism of the unique population of Vα14 natural killer T (NKT) cells because they promptly produce IFN-γ after IL-12 stimulation. We report here that LPS- or IL-12–primed NKT cell genetically deficient mice were found to be resistant to LPS-elicited mortality. This outcome can be attributed to the reduction of IFN-γ production, because injection of recombinant mouse IFN-γ, but not injection of IL-12, effectively primed the NKT cell–deficient mice. However, priming with high doses of LPS caused mortality of severe combined immunodeficiency, NKT cell–deficient, and CD1-deficient mice, indicating a major contribution of NKT cells to the Shwartzman reaction elicited by low doses of LPS, whereas at higher doses of LPS NK cells play a prominent role. These results suggest that the numerically small NKT cell population of normal mice apparently plays a mandatory role in the priming stage of the generalized Shwartzman reaction.