title: Increased spontaneous secretion of IL-6 from B cells of patients with B chronic lymphatic leukaemia (B-CLL) and autoimmunity.
abstract: We studied B cells from 18 patients with B-CLL, six of them with autoimmune haemolytic anaemia, for spontaneous secretion of IL-6. Our aim was to determine whether the increased incidence of autoimmune disease found in B-CLL patients is associated with enhanced spontaneous IL-6 secretion. IL-6 was measured by the effect of B cell supernatants on the proliferation of an IL-6 dependent plasmacytoma cell line T1165. The highest IL-6 values (7.4 +/- 1.8 U/ml) were measured in supernatants derived on day 3 of culture from lymphocytes of the six patients with B-CLL and concomitant autoimmune disease. The maximal IL-6 values for 10 patients with B-CLL only were 2.8 +/- 0.3 U/ml and for 10 age-matched controls, 0.8 +/- 0.3 U/ml (P less than 0.01, each group compared with the other). We conclude that there is an association between B-CLL, autoimmune disease and the spontaneous in vitro secretion of IL-6. Further studies are needed to determine whether the IL-6 secretion plays a role in the pathogenesis of autoimmune disease in patients with B-CLL.
authors.affiliation: Immunology Unit, Kupat Holim Lady Davis Carmel Hospital, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lahat
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Aghai
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Maroun
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kinarty
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Quitt
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Froom
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000150:complications* / Q000276:immunology; D015551:Autoimmunity; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000378:metabolism*; D015451:Leukemia, Lymphocytic, Chronic, B-Cell / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6