Corticosteroids and lymphoid cells in vitro. I. Hydrocortisone lysis of human, guinea pig, and mouse thymus cells.

Abstract

Abstract The ability of hydrocortisone to cause lysis of lymphoid cells in vitro was studied. Suspensions of mouse, guinea pig, and human thymus cells were labelled with chromium-51 and incubated for 6 to 24 hours with varying concentrations of hydrocortisone sodium succinate. The amount of 51 Cr release correlated with cell lysis at 6 but not at 24 hours. 51 Cr release was time and temperature dependent. The lysis of mouse thymus cells was increased by increasing concentrations of hydrocortisone over a range of 10 −6 to 10 −4 M. Lysis of guinea pig cells was not increased by hydrocortisone in the same dose range. Human thymus cells from 14 patients were also not affected by hydrocortisone in doses of 10 −8 to 10 −3 M. Thymus cells from 1 other patient (the youngest, age 11 months) were lysed by lower concentrations of hydrocortisone. These data emphasize the species difference between mouse, guinea pig, and human lymphoid cells with regard to their sensitivity to lysis by corticosteroids, confirming the designations of mouse as corticosteroid-sensitive and guinea pig and man as corticosteroid-resistant.