Impaired B-lymphocyte reactivity in patients with Hodgkin's disease and non-Hodgkin-lymphomas.
The generation of immunoglobulin-secreting cells upon stimulation with pokeweed mitogen was studied in patients with Hodgkin's Disease (HD) and non-Hodgkin lymphomas (NHL) using a reverse hemolytic plaque assay. The experiments revealed that the majority of the patients in both groups had greatly diminished responses of their peripheral B-lymphocytes. Whereas in NHL patients an intrinsic B-cell defect is the most likely explanation for the impaired B-cell reactivity, the situation in HD appears to be more complex. In some patients with an active stage of the disease, suppressor cells were found to cause the unresponsiveness: in other patients, an intrinsic B-cell defect as well as a defect of the T helper cells were responsible for the diminished responses. The results further suggest that the immune defect in patients with HD is reversible and can be corrected by therapy.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000921:Antibody-Producing Cells; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006462:Hemolytic Plaque Technique; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008223:Lymphoma / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged