Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1977 Sep;29(3):393–400.

Circulating T-cell numbers and their mitogenic potential in leprosy--correlation with mycobacterial load.

I Nath, J Curtis, A K Sharma, G P Talwar
PMCID: PMC1541056  PMID: 338218

Abstract

The effect of treatment and mycobacterial load on circulating T-cell numbers and their functional ability was investigated in forty-one patients with leprosy. Both early binding T cells and their responses to phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM) were profoundly and uniformly depressed in untreated, and partially treated, bacilleferous lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients as compared with normal subjects and tuberculoid patients. On elimination of mycobacteria, subsequent to chemotherapy, LL patients regain normality in T-cell numbers and their functions. On the other hand, the specific response of lymphocytes to M. leprae did not alter with decrease in mycobacterial load. It appears that the decrease in T-cell numbers and the deficit in their mitogenic potential is a secondary consequence of disease and is related to the antigenic load in patients with lepromatous leprosy.

Full text

PDF
393

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Andersson J., Sjöberg O., Möller G. Mitogens as probes for immunocyte activation and cellular cooperation. Transplant Rev. 1972;11:131–177. doi: 10.1111/j.1600-065x.1972.tb00048.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Bianco C., Patrick R., Nussenzweig V. A population of lymphocytes bearing a membrane receptor for antigen-antibody-complement complexes. I. Separation and characterization. J Exp Med. 1970 Oct 1;132(4):702–720. doi: 10.1084/jem.132.4.702. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Dean J. H., Silva J. S., McCOY J. L., Leonard C. M., Cannon G. B., Herberman R. B. Functional activities of rosette separated human peripheral blood leukocytes. J Immunol. 1975 Nov;115(5):1449–1455. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Dierks R. E., Shepard C. C. Effect of phytohemagglutinin and various mycobacterial antigens on lymphocyte cultures from leprosy patients. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1968 Feb;127(2):391–395. doi: 10.3181/00379727-127-32698. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Dwyer J. M., Bullock W. E., Fields J. P. Disturbance of the blood T:B lymphocyte ratio in lepromatous leprosy. Clinical and immunologic correlations. N Engl J Med. 1973 May 17;288(20):1036–1039. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197305172882002. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Gajl-Peczalska K. J., Lim S. D., Jacobson R. R., Good R. A. B lymphocytes in lepromatous leprosy. N Engl J Med. 1973 May 17;288(20):1033–1035. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197305172882001. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Godal T., Myrvang B., Froland S. S., Shao J., Melaku G. Evidence that the mechanism of immunological tolerance ("central failure") is operative in the lack of host resistance in lepromatous leprosy. Scand J Immunol. 1972;1(4):311–321. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1972.tb03296.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Greaves M. F., Janossy G., Doenhoff M. Activation of human T and B lymphocytes by polyclonal mitogens. Nature. 1974 Apr 19;248(5450):698–701. doi: 10.1038/248698a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Han S. H., Weiser R. S., Lin Y. C. Transformation of leprous lymphocytes by leprolin, tuberculin and phytohemagglutinin. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis. 1971 Oct-Dec;39(4):789–795. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Jones G. Lymphocyte activation. I. Expression of theta, H-2 and immunoglobulin determinants on lymphocytes stimulated by phytohaemagglutinin, pokeweed mitogen, concanavalin A or histocompatibility antigen. Clin Exp Immunol. 1972 Nov;12(3):391–402. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Lim S. D., Kiszkiss D. F., Jacobson R. R., Choi Y. S., Good R. A. Thymus-dependent lymphocytes of peripheral blood in leprosy patients. Infect Immun. 1974 Feb;9(2):394–399. doi: 10.1128/iai.9.2.394-399.1974. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Mehra V. L., Talwar G. P., Balakrishnan K., Bhutani L. K. Influence of chemotherapy and serum factors on the mitogenic response of peripheral leucocytes of leprosy patients to phytohaemagglutinin. Clin Exp Immunol. 1972 Oct;12(2):205–213. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Mendes N. F., Kopersztych S., Mota N. G. T and B lymphocytes in patients with lepromatous leprosy. Clin Exp Immunol. 1974 Jan;16(1):23–29. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Myrvang B., Godal T., Ridley D. S., Fröland S. S., Song Y. K. Immune responsiveness to Mycobacterium leprae and other mycobacterial antigens throughout the clinical and histopathological spectrum of leprosy. Clin Exp Immunol. 1973 Aug;14(4):541–553. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Nath I., Curtis J., Talwar G. P. The use of enzyme markers for the identification of human peripheral B lymphocytes. Indian J Med Res. 1976 Mar;64(3):435–439. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Ridley D. S., Jopling W. H. Classification of leprosy according to immunity. A five-group system. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis. 1966 Jul-Sep;34(3):255–273. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Rodriguez Paradisi E., de Bonaparte Y. P., Morgenfeld M. C. Blasts in lepromatous leprosy. Lancet. 1968 Feb 10;1(7537):308–309. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(68)90173-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Schiff R. I., Buckley R. H., Gilbertsen R. B., Metzgar R. S. Membrane receptors and in vitro responsiveness of lymphocytes in human immunodeficiency. J Immunol. 1974 Jan;112(1):376–386. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Talwar G. P., Hanjan S. N., Mehra V. L., Kidwai Z. Lack of interaction of circulating T cells with phytohemagglutinin in bacillary positive untreated lepromatous leprosy patients--identification of subpopulation of lymphocytes by shifts in electrophoretic mobility. J Immunol. 1977 Jan;118(1):242–247. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  21. Talwar G. P., Krishnan A. D., Mehra V. L., Blum E. A., Pearson J. M. Evaluation of cell mediated immune responses in untreated cases of leprosy. Clin Exp Immunol. 1972 Oct;12(2):195–203. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  22. Turk J. L., Bryceson A. D. Immunological phenomena in leprosy and related diseases. Adv Immunol. 1971;13:209–266. doi: 10.1016/s0065-2776(08)60185-6. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  23. Turk J. L., Waters M. F. Cell-mediated immunity in patients with leprosy. Lancet. 1969 Aug 2;2(7614):243–246. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(69)90009-9. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  24. Wong P. C., Chan-Teoh C. H., Kendall F. H. Transformation of lymphocytes by phytohemagglutinin in leprosy sera. Int J Lepr Other Mycobact Dis. 1971 Jan-Mar;39(1):7–13. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  25. Wybran J., Fudenberg H. H. Thymus-derived rosette-forming cells. N Engl J Med. 1973 May 17;288(20):1072–1073. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197305172882011. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  26. Wybran J., Levin A. S., Spitler L. E., Fudenberg H. H. Rosette-forming cells, immunologic deficiency diseases and transfer factor. N Engl J Med. 1973 Apr 5;288(14):710–713. doi: 10.1056/NEJM197304052881405. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from Clinical and Experimental Immunology are provided here courtesy of British Society for Immunology

RESOURCES