[3H]-dexamethasone ([3H]-Dex) in ethanol was from New England Nuclear (Boston, MA,
USA) and had a specific activity of 35·00 Ci/mM (1254·00 GBq/mM). Sheep red blood cells (SRBC) were obtained from Alfredo Gutierrez® (C.A.). The following anti-mouse antibodies were used: phycoerythrin (PE)-conjugated rat anti-immunoglobulin (Ig)M monoclonal antibody (mAb) (BD-Pharmingen, San Diego, CA, USA) and fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC)-conjugated goat anti-IgG polyclonal antibody (Jackson ImmunoResearch Laboratories, West Grove, PA, USA). BALB/c mice were bred in the animal facility of the Department of Experimental Medicine, Academia ATM inhibitor Nacional de Medicina, Buenos Aires. Female mice aged 12–16 weeks weighing 20–25 g were used throughout the experiments. They were maintained under a 12 h light–dark cycle at 22 ± 2°C and fed with standard diet and water ad libitum. The experiments performed herein were conducted according to the principles set forth in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals[34]. Classical tolerance model. Mice were tolerized by intraperitoneal (i.p.) inoculation of LPS (80 µg/kg) for 4 consecutive days. Twenty-four hours after the last injection animals were resistant to a lethal dose (LD) of LPS (2 LD50 = 8 mg/kg
i.p.). Tolerance/immunosuppression model. Because immunosuppression is a quantitative effect dependent upon the number of doses and concentration of LPS injections, a stronger immunosuppression was obtained by treatment of mice with different doses of LPS for 13 consecutive days. The inoculation Enzalutamide supplier regimen began with 200 µg/kg i.p. for the first 3 days, followed by 4 mg/kg i.p. for 9 days. Mice were injected Proteasome inhibitor i.p. with a lethal dose of LPS (2 LD50 = 200 µg) in pyrogen-free saline and followed up to 72 h. This dose induces 100%
mortality between 24 and 48 h after injection. The same batch of LPS was used throughout the experiments. Twenty-four hours after the last dose of endotoxin, LPS tolerant/immunosuppressed mice were inoculated with RU486 (30 mg/kg i.p.) and 30 min later they were immunized with SRBC (5 × 108/mouse i.p.). Then, at 24 and 30 h after the immunization, mice were treated again with RU486. Control mice (naive) were either treated or not with RU486 and immunized using the same regimen. Seven days after immunization the animals were bled and serum sample were collected and frozen at −20°C until to use. Mice were injected intraperitoneally with 2 ml of 3% (wt/vol) thioglycollate broth. After 4 days they were killed and cells were harvested by peritoneal lavage with cold phosphate-buffered saline (PBS) and cultured in 48-well tissue culture plates (Costar, Cambridge, MA, USA) at a concentration of 2·5 × 105 cells/well in RPMI-1640, supplemented with 10% fetal calf serum (FCS), 1% penicillin and 1% streptomycin.