The influence of collagenase treatment on the production of TNF-α, IL-6 and IL-10 by testicular macrophages

Testicular macrophages (TMf) are located in the interstitial tissue of the male gonad. Highly purified TMf populations can be prepared either by the mechanical shaking of dispersed testicular tissues or by enzymatic digestion with collagenase followed by cell adherence, rosetting and gradient centrifugation. TMf obtained by the enzymatic procedure produced significantly more cytokines (IL-6, IL-10 and TNF-α) than TMf isolated by the mechanical method and this effect is long-lasting. Our results indicate that isolation of tissue macrophages by enzymatic digestion may influence their functional activity, and suggest that critical evaluation of the method used to obtain these cells should be the regular practice.