title: Skin tests with tuberculin (PPD) Candida albicans and Trichophyton spp. in cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis and asbestos related lung disease.
abstract: Delayed skin hypersensitivity responses were elicited in patients with cryptogenic fibrosing alveolitis (CFA) (twenty-eight), asbestosis (eight), mesothelioma (eight) and a "control" group, having miscellaneous lung diseases not normally believed to be associated with T cell deficiency (twenty). Three antigens, Candida albicans, trichophyton and purified protein derivative (PPD) in a range of doses were used. There was no evidence of impaired cellular immunity in CFA or in mesothelioma, indeed there was a significantly increased frequency of reactions to PPD in both of these conditions (P less than 0.05 and P less than 0.01 respectively). There was, however, a trend of decreased responsiveness in the group with asbestosis. The dosage regimen used rarely gave completely negative results (only one of thirty-two completed tests), and may provide a basis for a simple and standard regimen for screening patients suspected of having defective T cell responses.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001195:Asbestosis / Q000276:immunology*; D002176:Candida albicans / Q000276:immunology; D006801:Humans; D006968:Hypersensitivity, Delayed / Q000276:immunology; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D008175:Lung Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology; D008654:Mesothelioma / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D011446:Prospective Studies; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000276:immunology*; D012882:Skin Tests; D014249:Trichophyton / Q000276:immunology; D014374:Tuberculin Test