Characterization of mercuric mercury (Hg2+)-induced lymphoblasts from patients with mercury allergy and from healthy subjects

Hg2+ induces lymphocyte proliferation when added to cell cultures from both healthy and mercury-allergic subjects. Consequently, when measuring DNA synthesis a possible Hg2+-specific response, resulting from proliferating memory cells, cannot be discriminated from a non-allergic response. The mechanism behind this non-allergic response is unknown but a superantigenic effect of Hg2+ has been suggested. In this study, five mercury-allergic patients, with oral lichen planus (OLP) lesions adjacent to dental amalgam and a positive patch test to Hg0, and five healthy subjects without amalgam were examined. The immunophenotype and the T cell receptor Vβ (TCR Vβ) repertoire of Hg2+-induced lymphoblasts as well as the expression of the lymphocyte activation markers CD23 and CD134 were analysed for possible differences between healthy and allergic subjects. The mechanism of Hg2+-induced proliferation was examined by comparing the TCR Vβ expression of Hg- and staphylococcal enterotoxin B (SEB)-activated lymphoblasts, the latter used as a positive superantigen control. It was not possible to discriminate between mercury-allergic and healthy subjects using the immunophenotype or the TCR Vβ profile of the Hg2+-induced lymphoblasts or the expression of CD23 and CD134. However, Hg2+-induced CD4+ lymphoblasts showed a skewing towards Vβ2. This relative increase in Vβ2 was only detected in the CD4+ but not in the CD8+ lymphoblast population. In conclusion, Hg2+ induced a proliferation-dependent skewing towards CD4+ but not CD8+ lymphocytes expressing Vβ2. In this respect Hg2+ differs from the classical bacterial superantigen SEB, which also stimulates unique TCR Vβ families among CD8+ cells