EFFECT OF LEVAMISOLE ON PERIPHERAL-BLOOD LYMPHOCYTE SUBPOPULATIONS IN PATIENTS WITH RHEUMATOID-ARTHRITIS AND ANKYLOSING-SPONDYLITIS

  • 1 January 1976
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 25  (3) , 493-496
Abstract
Although Levamisole, an antihelmintic drug, has some modulatory effect on the immune response in clinical trials and experimental models, its mode of action remains obscure. In a group of 15 patients with rheumatoid arthritis and ankylosing spondylitis receiving Levamisole on an intermittent regime, simultaneous determinations of the lymphocyte subpopulations were made prior to Levamisole administration and 3 mo. thereafter. No significant changes were observed either in the absolute or in the relative numbers of T[thymus-derived]- and B[bone marrow-derived]-cell populations, while a statistically significant reduction was found in the null cells. The immune potentiating effect of Levamisole may at least partially be due to a maturation process of the null cells.