The response of leucocytes of agammaglobulinaemia subjects to phythohaemagglutinin and anti-immunoglobulin antiserum.

  • 1 February 1969
    • journal article
    • Vol. 4  (2) , 203-11
Abstract
Leucocytes of three patients with congenital (case 1) or acquired (cases 2 and 3) agammaglobulinaemia were studied in vitro in cell culture for their capacity to undergo blastogenesis and mitosis upon exposure to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) or anti-immunoglobulin sera. Synthesis of DNA was measured by the incorporation of tritiated thymidine added 16 hr before termination of culture. The lymphocytes of patients Nos. 2 and 3 showed little or no uptake of the labelled thymidine following stimulation by antisera, whereas those of patient No. 1 were at the upper limit of normal. Response to stimulation by PHA was within the normal range for patients Nos. 1 and 3 but subnormal for patient No. 2. The different responses to PHA and anti-immunoglobulin antisera suggest basic heterogeneity of the defects in the lymphocytes of these patients.