Inhibition of human neutrophil migration by supernatants from Hodgkin's disease-derived cell lines

3H-NECA binding to polymorphonuclear membrane: effect of sera from patients with Hodgkin's disease

Several studies have shown that sera from patients with Hodgkin's disease contain factors capable of inhibiting polymorphonuclear functions, among them chemotaxis. In the present study, we investigated whether these sera, which were able to inhibit PMN chemotaxis in the agarose test, were also able to affect the 3H-NECA binding to PMN membrane obtained from healthy donors. Control experiments were carried out using PMN incubated with a pool of sera from healthy volunteers. No significant difference was found in the maximum number of binding sites; on the contrary, the equilibrium dissociation constant was significantly increased in the membrane preparation of PMN incubated with pathological serum.

Recent results on the biology of Hodgkin and Reed-Sternberg cells. II. Continuous cell lines

The relative scarcity of Hodgkin (H) and Reed-Sternberg (RS) cells within biopsies from cases with Hodgkin's disease (HD) is an impediment to the analysis of the nature and function of these cells. Continuous cell lines as uniform and permanently available sources of cells provide a valid alternative. Development of HD cell lines has proven to be rather difficult when compared with the results on leukemia and Non-Hodgkin lymphoma cells. Only a few cell lines containing cells that resemble in-vivo H-RS cells have been established. Because the in-vitro culture conditions favor the self-propagation of residual normal cells, e.g. Epstein-Barr virus transformed B-lymphoblastoid cells or monocyte/macrophage monolayers, early attempts at culturing HD tissue resulted mainly in the generation of such cell lines. Even for the bona fide HD cell lines it is difficult to prove that the immortalized cells originated from an H-RS cell. These 13 HD cell lines have been extensively characterized in a large variety of aspects. These data have resulted in widely varying conclusions about the nature of the cell lines. It is apparent that all HD cell lines are unique among hematopoietic cell lines and are also different from one another. No conclusive evidence towards the origin of the cells has been obtained for some cell lines, while others could be operationally, albeit not always unequivocally, assigned to the T- or B-cell or monocyte-macrophage lineages. The overall phenotypes are often not concordant with those of normal hematopoietic cells; some cell lines show clearly mixed lineage attributes. The artifactual expansion of non-HRS cells in culture and the acquisition or loss of certain properties during the adaptation to culture systems cannot be excluded. There was also a bias for the establishment of cell lines from cases with advanced clinical stages, nodular sclerosing subtype and pleural effusions. The extensive analysis of a few cell lines has provided a wealth of information useful for the understanding of the biology of H-RS cells. The striking heterogeneity could be reflective of a biologically heterogeneous disease.

Effects of recombinant tumor necrosis factor (rHuTNF alpha) on human neutrophils and monocytes: in vitro, ex vivo and in vivo

In in vitro experiments, tumor necrosis factor (rHuTNF alpha) was found to inhibit spontaneous and directed migration of normal human neutrophils and monocytes. RHuTNF alpha showed no chemoattractant activity. In conjunction with a Phase-2 clinical trial, we also studied in vivo rHuTNF alpha effects on neutrophil and monocyte number and function. At the time of maximal plasma TNF levels (30 min), marked neutropenia and monocytopenia were observed. Isolated neutrophils were activated for superoxide production but were unable to migrate. Monocyte migration was inhibited at later times. Neutrophil migratory function recovered between 4 and 8 h but was again depressed at 24 h. The data demonstrate the complexity of the response to TNF, comprising direct and indirect effects which are concentration-, time- and place-dependent. They further suggest that the only neutrophils and monocytes available for participation in an anti-tumor activity of TNF in vivo are those present in the tumor at the outset.

Morphological and immunohistochemical studies of Hodgkin's disease in the spleen

Hodgkin's disease in the spleen - with the exception of its B cell variant - behaves quite differently from non Hodgkin's lymphomas with respect to both its spread and microenvironment. Each type of HD appears to create its own microenvironment by the secretion of cytokines responsible for the characteristic cellular composition of the infiltrates and thereby alters the normal immunoarchitecture of the spleen profoundly. While some histological findings seem to imply the presence of a host response against HD especially in the nodular sclerosis subtype, morphological and immunohistochemical evidence in the spleen cannot conclusively substantiate this hypothesis.