SARCOIDOSIS - PHYTOHEMAGGLUTININ RESPONSE OF LYMPHOCYTE FRACTIONS ISOLATED BY VELOCITY SEDIMENTATION AND ENHANCED HELPER CELL ACTIVITY

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Abstract
Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from patients with histologically confirmed sarcoidosis were examined for the presence of suppressor activity to explain diminished phytohemagglutinin[PHA]-induced lymphoblastic transformation. PHA responses of unfractionated cells, cell fractions obtained by velocity sedimentation and mixtures of various cell fractions were studied by uptake of labeled 3H-thymidine in 72 h cultures. The in vitro impaired response to PHA stimulation of unfractionated sarcoid lymphocytes occurred only in patients with more disseminated disease. Sarcoid lymphocyte fractions 2 and 4 showed significantly decreased stimulation with PHA, suggesting that the over-all impaired response of unfractionated sarcoid lymphocytes to PHA stimulation could be explained by the sum of impaired PHA responses of lymphocytes in these fractions. No evidence of suppressor cell activity was detected. Slowly sedimenting sarcoid fraction 4 cells appeared to have helper activity; this was independent of the extent of disease and results of skin tests.