Nitrofurantoin lung sensitivity: report of a case with prolonged nitrofurantoin lymphocyte sensitivity and interaction of nitrofurantoin-stimulated lymphocytes with alveolar cells.

Abstract

Abstract Lymphocyte sensitivity and migration inhibition factor (MIF) production in response to nitrofurantoin have been demonstrated for the first time in the same patient. This sensitivity has persisted in lessening degree over a 2case12-year period and suggests T-cell involvement rather than B-cell sensitivity to the drug. The range of drug concentration resulting in lymphocyte transformation was narrow and considerably below that required for migration inhibition of the patient's peripheral leukocytes to the drug. A cell-layer model is described that has been used to study possible nitrofurantoin-sensitized lymphocyte interaction with human alveolar cells from another patient. The experiments herein reported suggest that this patient's acute lung problem may have occurred through cell-mediated immunity. The exact nature of this reaction is speculative and needs further study.