IMPAIRED INVITRO INTERFERON, BLASTOGENIC, AND NATURAL-KILLER CELL RESPONSES TO VIRAL STIMULATION IN ACQUIRED IMMUNE-DEFICIENCY SYNDROME

  • 1 January 1985
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 45  (1) , 406-410
Abstract
The in vitro immune response to herpes simplex virus (HSV), type 1, strain 539, HSV type 2, strain 316D and cytomegalovirus was studied in 20 patients (14 with acquired immune deficiency syndrome [AIDS], 4 with the AIDS-related symptom complex and 2 sexually active asymptomatic homosexuals) and 18 heterosexual healthy controls. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells were cultured with 2 .times. 105 plaque-forming units of heat-inactivated viruses, their lymphocyte blastogenic responses were measured after 5 days in culture by [3H]-thymidine incorporation, their interferon production was measured after 24 h and 5 days and natural killer (NK) cell activation was measured after 24 and 5 days of culture. Blastogenic responses to viruses were significantly low for only HSV, type 1: 1.75 .times. 103 cpm in patients'' cells compared to 6.36 for controls. Interferon responses to all 3 viruses were significantly low at both 24 h and 5 days; e.g., HSV, type 1: 139 IU/ml in patients'' cells compared to 777 for controls at 24 h. NK cell responses of patients were lower than those of controls when tested fresh and after 24 h of incubation: 6.1 vs. 11.7% and 9.2 vs. 16.8% target cell lysis, respectively. Exposure to viruses boosted NK cell responses of both patients'' and controls'' cells, but boosting was generally greater among the normal rather than the patients'' cells. The abormalities of response were present in all 3 patient groups. Addition of interleukin-2 in vitro increased the patient and control blastogenic and NK resposnes but did not augment the interferon responses. The in vitro responses to both HSV, type 1 and HSV, type 2 correlated significantly with conventional assays of the percentage and absolute level of T4+-helper lymphocytes in the blood and the blastogenic responses to mitogens, such as phytohemagglutinin, pokeweed mitogen and concanavalin A. This system should be useful for the study of host defense in AIDS patients and those in high-risk groups and also for the in vitro evaluation of immunomodulators.