The response of leucocytes of agammaglobulinaemia subjects to phythohaemagglutinin and anti-immunoglobulin antiserum.

Abstract

Leucocytes of three patients with congenital (case 1) or acquired (cases 2 and 3) agammaglobulinaemia were studied in vitro in cell culture for their capacity to undergo blastogenesis and mitosis upon exposure to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or anti-immunoglobulin sera. Synthesis of DNA was measured by the incorporation of tritiated thymidine added 16 hr before termination of culture. The lymphocytes of patients Nos. 2 and 3 showed little or no uptake of the labelled thymidine following stimulation by antisera, whereas those of patient No. 1 were at the upper limit of normal. Response to stimulation by PHA was within the normal range for patients Nos. 1 and 3 but subnormal for patient No. 2. The different responses to PHA and anti-immunoglobulin antisera suggest basic heterogeneity of the defects in the lymphocytes of these patients. There was lack of correlation between delayed type dermal reactivity and lymphocyte reactivity to PHA in patient No. 3.