title: Anti-CD4 antibody treatment of patients with rheumatoid arthritis: II. Effect of in vivo treatment on in vitro proliferative response of CD4 cells.
abstract: In treating rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients with anti-CD4 antibodies (MT151 10 mg/day, 7 d) we observed diminished skin-test response to recall antigens and reduced proliferative response to antigens and mitogens (in vitro) 2-4 h following the injection. To investigate whether this diminished response is due to functional impairment of CD4+ cells, we analyzed the proliferative response of CD4+ cells to various stimuli, in conditions where the CD4 structure was either cross-linked or not. We found that in vivo anti-CD4-antibody-coated cells could be induced to proliferate if the anti-CD4 antibody was cross-linked with an anti-CD3 antibody [BMA030-F(ab')2] added in vitro and per se non-mitogenic. Also, without cross-linking the cell-bound anti-CD4 antibodies, no impairment of the proliferative capacity of CD4-antibody-coated cells could be detected; double fluorescence analyses of phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)- or CD3-stimulated cells showed that a similar proportion of CD4+ cells proliferated before and after anti-CD4-antibody treatment. The diminished proliferation observed following anti-CD4 treatment correlated to the reduced number of CD3+ and CD4+ cells in culture, which suggests that altered cell distribution might be one factor contributing to the impaired immune response.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Clinical Immunology, Inselspital, Bern, Switzerland.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Walker
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Herzog
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rieber
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Riethmüller
authors.forename: W
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Müller
authors.forename: W J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Pichler
mesh_terms: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte / Q000276:immunology; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology / Q000628:therapy*; D017252:CD3 Complex; D015704:CD4 Antigens / Q000276:immunology*; D015496:CD4-Positive T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D002455:Cell Division; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008212:Lymphocyte Depletion; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D000945:Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte; D017252:CD3 Complex; D015704:CD4 Antigens; D011948:Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell