Suppression of natural killer (NK) cell activity of spleen cells by thymocytes

The in vitro influence of thymus cells on natural killer cell activity of spleen cells against prelabeled target cells (YAC-I and RL[male symbol]I) has been studied in syngeneic as well as in allogeneic murine models. In mixing experiments to demonstrate suppression, total thymocytes have been found to have no effect on NK activity of syngeneic or allogeneic spleen cells. Among several thymocyte fractions separated by velocity sedimentation, a relatively faster sedimenting fraction showed remarkable suppression of NK activity by spleen cells against two target cells. The suppressive effect of this particular fraction on NK activity was demonstrated to be proportional to the cell dose. The suppressive function was resistant to irradiation at 1000 or 2000 rad administered in vitro and was not restricted by the major histocompatibility complex. Moreover, the thymocyte fraction which induced suppression was not sensitive to NK-mediated cytolysis by syngeneic spleen cells. The suppression of NK cytolysis in vitro by certain subpopulations of thymocytes as observed in the present studies may be consistent with a role for the thymus in regulating NK activity in vivo.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/24461/1/0000736.pd

Opioids exacerbate inflammation in people with well-controlled HIV

IntroductionPeople with HIV (PWH) are known to have underlying inflammation and immune activation despite virologic control. Substance use including opioid dependence is common in this population and is associated with increased morbidity and reduced lifespan. The primary objective of the present study termed opioid immunity study (OPIS), was to investigate the impact of chronic opioids in PWH.MethodsThe study recruited people with and without HIV who had opioid use disorder (OUD). Study participants (n=221) were categorized into four groups: HIV+OP+, n=34; HIV-OP+, n=66; HIV+OP-, n=55 and HIV-OP-, n=62 as controls. PWH were virally suppressed on ART and those with OUD were followed in a syringe exchange program with confirmation of OP use by urine drug screening. A composite cytokine score was developed for 20 plasma cytokines that are linked to inflammation. Cellular markers of immune activation (IA), exhaustion, and senescence were determined in CD4 and CD8 T cells. Regression models were constructed to examine the relationships of HIV status and opioid use, controlling for other confounding factors.ResultsHIV+OP+ participants exhibited highest inflammatory cytokines and cellular IA, followed by HIV-OP+ for inflammation and HIV+OP- for IA. Inflammation was found to be driven more by opioid use than HIV positivity while IA was driven more by HIV than opioid use. In people with OUD, expression of CD38 on CD28-CD57+ senescent-like T cells was elevated and correlated positively with inflammation.DiscussionGiven the association of inflammation with a multitude of adverse health outcomes, our findings merit further investigations to understand the mechanistic pathways involved

T-lymphocyte differentiation in severe combined immunodeficiency: Defects of the thymus

The thymus obtained at autopsy from two patients with severe combined immunodeficiency disease (SCID) were placed in culture to establish epithelial monolayers. These thymic epithelial monolayers and their supernatants were tested for their inductive influence on marrow cells from normal donors and, in addition, one monolayer was tested for its capacity to induce differentiation on marrow cells from another patient with SCID. The first thymic epithelial monolayer (B.H.) induced E-rosetting markers and mitogen responses in normal marrow cells but not in the marrow cells of the patient with SCID. These same SCID marrow cells were partially differentiated to E rosettes but responses to phytomitogens were not induced when these marrow cells were cultured on normal thymic epithelial monolayers. The epithelial monolayers from the second SCID patient (D.V.) induced the E-rosette markers but not HTLA markers on normal marrow cells. Evaluation of serum thymic hormone levels in patient D.V. had previously revealed absence of thymopoietin and low normal values of serum facteur thymique serique. These findings suggest that in SCID, a defect of the thymus may exist at the initial step of processing of cells which may be a prerequisite for subsequent differentiation events in the cell development. This defect appears to be related to impaired secretory activity for one or possibly more thymic hormones and seems to represent a functional defect of the thymic stroma

Heterogeneity of B Lymphocyte Differentiation in Severe Combined Immunodeficiency Disease

differentiation in vitro into antibody secreting plaque-forming cells (PFC) was investigated in nine patients with severe combined immunodeficiency having variable proportions of circulating B lymphocytes. When cultured by themselves, the peripheral blood mononuclear cells did not respond to stimulation with pokeweed mitogen in any patient. In the presence of irradiated allogeneic T cells as helpers, however, PFC responses were elicited in lymphocyte cultures from peripheral blood and/or bone marrow in some patients. In one of these patients, results of allogeneic co-culture experiments were suggestive of genetically restricted suppressor cells. In a single patient with deficiency of the enzyme adenosine deaminase, PFC were generated in bone marrow lymphocyte cultures only when they were supplemented with exogenous adenosine deaminase and allogeneic helper cells. A parallel study of T lymphocyte differentiation in vitro performed in fractionated bone marrow cells was suggestive of arrested differentiation at different steps along the differentiation pathway. In two patients with evidence of functional B cell precursors, deficiencies of helper T cell function could be attributed to differentiation defects at the level of the stem cells in one and the thymus in the other. The findings reported here further substantiate the heterogeneity of the severe combined immunodeficiency disease syndromes

Adenosine 5′-triphosphate (ATP)-mediated stimulation and suppression of DNA synthesis in lymphoid cells. II. Suppressive effect of ATP on murine T-cell functions

The suppressive effects of ATP on murine T-cell functions were studied. The suppressive effects of ATP as well as adenosine on the DNA synthesis of spleen cells are due to the presence of mature T-cells, because ATP has no suppressive effect on athymic nu/nu spleen cells. Further characterization of the cells which are responsible for ATP-mediated suppression of DNA synthesis revealed that the cells are nylon wool-adherent T-cells and PHA-reactive T-cells. In addition, the suppressive effects of ATP on both spontaneous and mitogen-induced proliferative responses are stronger than that of adenosine, and T-cells are more sensitive to ATP than B-cells. The observation that both ATP and adenosine have unique effects on T-cells compared to B-cells may contribute toward explaining why patients with severe combined immunodeficiency (SCID) associated with adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency have greater T-cell than B-cell abnormalities

Chemotactic defects in severe combined immunodeficiency

Cellular and humoral components of leukotaxis were studied serially in four male infants with severe combined immunodeficiency disease. Two of the four, both lacking B and T cells initially, had a significant defect in neutrophil and monocyte chemotaxis. The other two, who had a high number of immunoglobulin-bearing cells (B cells), did not have these cellular abnormalities. In contrast, defective generation of chemotactic factor following endotoxin activation was observed in all patients. The defects were corrected coincident with or soon after successful engraftment of either bone marrow or fetal tissues. The reported deficiencies may be another manifestation of the heterogeneity in SCID

Differential effects of IL-21 and IL-15 on perforin expression, lysosomal degranulation, and proliferation in CD8 T cells of patients with human immunodeficiency virus-1 (HIV)

An urgent need exists to devise strategies to augment antiviral immune responses in patients with HIV who are virologically well controlled and immunologically stable on highly active antiretroviral therapy (HAART). The objective of this study was to compare the immunomodulatory effects of the cytokines interleukin (IL)–21 with IL-15 on CD8 T cells in patients with HIV RNA of less than 50 copies/mL and CD4 counts greater than 200 cells/mm.(3) Patient CD8 T cells displayed skewed maturation and decreased perforin expression compared with healthy controls. Culture of freshly isolated patient peripheral-blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) for 5 hours to 5 days with IL-21 resulted in up-regulation of perforin in CD8 T cells, including memory and effector subsets and virus-specific T cells. IL-21 did not induce T-cell activation or proliferation, nor did it augment T-cell receptor (TCR)–induced degranulation. Treatment of patient PBMCs with IL-15 resulted in induction of perforin in association with lymphocyte proliferation and augmentation of TCR-induced degranulation. Patient CD8 T cells were more responsive to cytokine effects than the cells of healthy volunteers. We conclude that CD8 T cells of patients with HIV can be modulated by IL-21 to increase perforin expression without undergoing overt cellular activation. IL-21 could potentially be useful for its perforin-enhancing properties in anti-HIV immunotherapy