title: Some immunological effects of penicillamine.
abstract: Immunological effects of D- and D,L-penicillamine (PA) were studied in efforts to develop assays for synthetic D or D,L analogs and to contribute to the understanding of the mechanism(s) of action of D-PA in rheumatoid arthritis. At the highest doses tolerated by mice, D,L-PA did not significantly inhibit the development of haemagglutinating antibodies in vivo. In studies in vitro with T lymphocytes, D-PA at 1 mM concentration inhibited both concanavalin A- and phytohaemagglutinin-induced transformation as assayed by [3H]thymidine incorporation, but D-PA concentrations of 5 mM were required to inhibit concanavalin A-induced amino acid uptake. No effect of D-PA was observed either on the induction of cytotoxic T cells or on the attack of specifically sensitized T cells on target cells. It is of interest that D-PA at 1 mM concentration did inhibit lipopolysaccharide-induced transformation, which predominately stimulates B lymphocytes. The effects of PA on the induced transformation of T and B cells deserve further attention for studies with analogs of PA.
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000917:Antibody Formation / Q000187:drug effects*; D003864:Depression, Chemical; D007111:Immunity, Cellular / Q000187:drug effects*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation / Q000187:drug effects; D008297:Male; D051379:Mice; D010396:Penicillamine / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D010396:Penicillamine