Detection of DR antigen on leukemic cells from a patient suffering from adult T-cell leukemia and progressive systemic sclerosis.

This report concerns an unusual case of adult T cell leukemia (ATL) complicated with progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS). The surface markers of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) and lymph node cells, both of which mainly consisted of leukemic cells, were examined. The effect of these cells on the pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-induced IgG synthesis by normal PBM also was studied. The leukemic cells formed rosettes with sheep red blood cells (SRBC; E) and expressed T cell antigen, Leu-1, and DR antigen. The detection of cell surface antigens was carried out by employing monoclonal antibodies against these antigens. We diagnosed this case as DR positive ATL. In terms of the immunoregulatory function of these leukemic cells, the co-culture experiments showed that these cells had some suppressive effect on the PWM-induced IgG production by allogeneic normal PBM.</p

Studies on macrophage function in in vitro immune response Part 1. The role of macrophages in lymphocyte reaction to polyclonal B cell activator

To clarify the function of macrophages (MΦ) in lymphocyte reaction to polyclonal B cell activator (PBA), especially pokeweed mitogen (PWM) and Staphylococcal phage lysate (SPL), the pattern of PWM-induced IgG synthesis and the degree of PBA-induced DNA synthesis by unfractionated mononuclear cells (MNC) or MΦ depleted MNC fraction were examined. The response of the MΦ depleted MNC fraction to PBA was significantly higher than that of unfractionated MNC. The addition of 10% MΦ to the depleted MNC fraction enhanced both responses, but too many MΦ reduced PWM-induced IgG synthesis. These results suggest that the presence of MΦ is not necessary in PBA-induced lymphocyte reaction and that the maximal response is obtained by the addition on optimal number of MΦ. Moreover, an excessive number of MΦ suppresses the IgG synthetic response

Studies on macrophage function in in vitro immune response Part 2. Functional analysis of macrophage from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus.

To analyse the function of macrophages (MΦ) from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients, spontaneous IgG synthesis, PWM-induced IgG production and Staphylococcal phage lysate (SPL)-induced DNA synthesis by MΦ depleted mononuclear cell (MNC) fraction or unfractionated MNC were examined. The depletion of MΦ enhanced the spontaneous IgG synthesis reaction in inactive SLE, but reduced it in active SLE. The depletion of MΦ restored the ability of SLE MNC to respond to PWM, although the IgG production by unfractionated MNC was suppressed by the addition of PWM. The presence of normal or SLE 10% MΦ enhanced SPL-induced DNA synthesis, but the enhancement obtained by SLE MΦ was less than that obtained by normal MΦ. These results　suggest that in inactive SLE, MΦ may show a suppressive effect on spontaneous B cell hyperactivity, but in active SLE, MΦ may loose this effect and/or reveal an enhancing effect. SLE MΦ seem to suppress the PWM-induced IgG synthesis reaction by SLE MNC in the presence of PWM. In addition, SLE MΦ have certain functional defects in promoting SPL-induced DNA synthesis