title: In vitro response of T cells from aplastic anemia patients to antilymphocyte globulin and phytohemagglutinin: colony-stimulating activity and lymphokine production.
abstract: The aim of the present study was to compare the response of bone marrow (BM) lymphocytes from patients with aplastic anemia (AA) or normal controls to increasing doses of antilymphocyte globulin (ALG) or phytohemagglutinin (PHA). For this purpose BM T-enriched cells from 11 AA patients and 9 normal individuals were incubated with ALG (0-1000 micrograms/ml) or PHA (0%-10%) for 1 day, and the supernatants were tested for suppression/enhancement of granulocyte-macrophage colony-forming unit (CFU-GM) growth and for release of granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF), tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha), and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) assayed with the enzyme-amplified sensitivity immunoassay (EASI). The production of colony-stimulating activity (CSA) by T cells primed with ALG and tested in the absence of exogenous GM-CSF correlated with the dose of ALG in priming cultures up to 14% EG (100% EG = CFU-GM growth with 30 ng/ml of GM-CSF). The amount of GM-CSF in the supernatants paralleled their capacity to sustain CFU-GM growth (up to 3.5 ng/ml of GM-CSF). Production of CSA or GM-CSF from T cells primed with PHA was significantly lower. Supernatants of PHA-primed T cells, when added to normal BM cells in the presence of exogenous GM-CSF, produced a dose-dependent inhibition of CFU-GM growth (down to 13% +/- 10% EG). The same supernatants contained detectable amounts of IFN-gamma and TNF-alpha (21 +/- 6.7 IU/ml and 4.6 +/- 2.9 ng/ml, respectively). IFN-gamma production from severe AA (SAA) T cells in response to PHA was significantly superior to the IFN-gamma production from normal T cells (21 +/- 6.7 IU/ml vs 9.5 +/- 7.1 IU/ml, p = 0.02).(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, San Martino Hospital, Genoa, Italy.
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Tong
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bacigalupo
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Piaggio
authors.forename: O
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Figari
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Sogno
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Marmont
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology*; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000378:metabolism; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum / Q000494:pharmacology*; D001853:Bone Marrow / Q000473:pathology; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000378:metabolism; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D002648:Child; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D005260:Female; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology; D006410:Hematopoiesis / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism; D008222:Lymphokines / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins / Q000494:pharmacology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D000961:Antilymphocyte Serum; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D016827:CD8 Antigens; D008222:Lymphokines; D010835:Phytohemagglutinins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; D007371:Interferon-gamma; D016178:Granulocyte-Macrophage Colony-Stimulating Factor