LYMPHOCYTIC TRANSFORMATION

Staphage lysate: an immunomodulator of the primary immune response in mice

The immunological enhancing activity of staphage lysate on the primary immune response of mice as reflected by specific heteroantibody production to a single antigenic stimulus and on immunoglobulin synthesis was determined. Staphage lysate was administered at different periods in relation to time of sheep erythrocyte injection so that both the inductive and the productive phase of the immune response could be evaluated. Treatment with staphage lysate induced pronounced enhancement of the hemagglutinin response by day 14 regardless of the dose or the time of its administration. Significantly higher antibody levels in the test groups were observed when compared with the control animals, peak antibody titers being 21 days following antigenic challenge. Furthermore, staphage lysate administered without an accompanying antigen evoked a heightened serum immunoglobulin level in mice for a period of more than 14 days after injection. IgG1, IgG2a and IgG2b were significantly elevated as a direct result of this treatment. This increased output of immunoglobulin synthesis and heightened hemagglutinin titers demonstrate that staphage lysate is not only an immunomodulator of cell-mediated immunity, as previously reported, but also an effective immunoadjuvant of the humoral antibody response capability in the host.

Immunoglobulin synthesis and lymphocyte transformation by anti-immunoglobulin sera in bursectomized chickens

It was found in bursectomized chickens that selective inhibition of IgM or IgG immunoglobulin synthesis occurs with equal frequency. Alterations in the immunoelectrophoretic pattern of immunoglobulins were described. Lymphocyte transformation induced by rabbit anti-IgM serum was inhibited in chickens lacking either IgM or IgG. Spleen lymphocytes from bursectomized chickens with a normal pattern of immunoglobulins exhibited transformation induced by anti-globulin serum like controls, despite a decreased humoral antibody response.

Lymphocytes in congenital immunological deficiency diseases

The in vitro lymphocyte response to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) and antigens was normal in five patients with Bruton-type agammaglobulinaemia. Lymphocytes from one infant with thymic dysplasia failed to respond to PHA. The response to PHA and antigens was variable in three patients with ataxia telangiectasia. The in vitro lymphocyte response in these patients appears to reflect the state of thymic-dependent cellular immunity or capacity for delayed hypersensitivity reactions.

The in vitro lymphocyte response to PHA and antigens was normal in two children with Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome, a disease in which the immunological defect remains controversial. Lymphocytes from a child who had been thymectomized at birth responded normally to PHA, and a normal capacity for delayed hypersensitivity reactions was demonstrated by skin test and homograft rejection.

The in vitro proliferation of lymphocytes from patients with hypogammaglobulinaemia

The 5-day cultures from eight patients with primary hypogammaglobulinaemia and from ten normal subjects were compared with regard to the proliferation response to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), staphylococcal filtrate, streptolysin O and various antigens. No difference was observed between the response of lymphocytes from normal and hypogammaglobulinaemic subjects. A marked proliferation response to at least one antigen was observed in at least five of the eight patients with hypogammaglobulinaemia.