Skip to main content
PMC home page
Clinical and Experimental Immunology logoLink to Clinical and Experimental Immunology
. 1974 May;17(1):29–41.

Cell-mediated immune response following Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection in man. I. Lymphocyte stimulation

G Biberfeld, P Biberfeld, G Sterner
PMCID: PMC1554054  PMID: 4466597

Abstract

Lymphocytes from seventeen cases of recent Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection, thirteen cases of previous infection and ten healthy subjects lacking antibodies to M. pneumoniae were cultured in the presence of various antigen preparations of M. pneumoniae. Lymphocyte stimulation was measured by the uptake of [14C]thymidine and by counting of morphologically transformed cells. The lymphocyte response to a sonicated concentrate of M. pneumoniae organisms and to a membrane fraction was significantly higher in recently infected patients than in healthy controls. However, nine out of ten serologically negative controls showed some degree of lymphocyte reactivity to M. pneumoniae. A lipid fraction of M. pneumoniae, which had a high antigen titre in the complement fixation test, induced no appreciable stimulation of lymphocytes from infected cases or control subjects.

Lymphocyte responsiveness to sonicated M. pneumoniae antigen was demonstrable up to 10 years after infection.

Among the cases with recent or previous M. pneumoniae infection there was no correlation between the degree of lymphocyte stimulation and the titres of antibodies to M. pneumoniae.

Full text

PDF
29

Selected References

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

  1. Benezra D., Gery I., Davies A. M. The relationship between lymphocyte transformation and immune responses. II. Correlations between transformation and humoral and cellular immune responses. Clin Exp Immunol. 1969 Jul;5(1):155–161. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Chanock R. M. Control of acute mycoplasmal and viral respiratory tract disease. Science. 1970 Jul 17;169(3942):248–256. doi: 10.1126/science.169.3942.248. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. ENNY G. E., GRAYSTON J. T. EATON PLEUROPNEUMONIA-LIKE ORGANISM (MYCOPLASMA PNEUMONIAE) COMPLEMENT-FIXING ANTIGEN: EXTRACTION WITH ORGANIC SOLVENTS. J Immunol. 1965 Jul;95:19–25. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Fernald G. W., Clyde W. A., Jr, Bienenstock J. Immunoglobulin-containing cells in lungs of hamsters infected with Mycoplasma pneumoniae. J Immunol. 1972 May;108(5):1400–1408. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Fernald G. W., Clyde W. A. Protective Effect of Vaccines in Experimental Mycoplasma pneumoniae Disease. Infect Immun. 1970 Jun;1(6):559–565. doi: 10.1128/iai.1.6.559-565.1970. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Fernald G. W. In vitro response of human lymphocytes to Mycoplasma pneumoniae. Infect Immun. 1972 Apr;5(4):552–558. doi: 10.1128/iai.5.4.552-558.1972. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Foy H. M., Nugent C. G., Kenny G. E., McMahan R., Grayston J. T. Repeated Mycoplasma pneumoniae pneumonia after 4 and one-half years. JAMA. 1971 Apr 26;216(4):671–672. doi: 10.1001/jama.216.4.671. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. Foy H. M., Ochs H., Davis S. D., Kenny G. E., Luce R. R. Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in patients with immunodeficiency syndromes: report of four cases. J Infect Dis. 1973 Apr;127(4):388–393. doi: 10.1093/infdis/127.4.388. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. HIRSCHHORN K., SCHREIBMAN R. R., VERBO S., GRUSKIN R. H. THE ACTION OF STREPTOLYSIN S ON PERIPHERAL LYMPHOCYTES OF NORMAL SUBJECTS AND PATIENTS WITH ACUTE RHEUMATIC FEVER. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 1964 Nov;52:1151–1157. doi: 10.1073/pnas.52.5.1151. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Hayflick L. Tissue cultures and mycoplasmas. Tex Rep Biol Med. 1965 Jun;23(Suppl):285+–285+. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. Mills J. A. The immunologic significance of antigen induced lymphocyte transformation in vitro. J Immunol. 1966 Aug;97(2):239–247. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Oppenheim J. J. Relationship of in vitro lymphocyte transformation to delayed hypersensitivity in guinea pigs and man. Fed Proc. 1968 Jan-Feb;27(1):21–28. [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Oppenheim J. J., Wolstencroft R. A., Gell P. G. Delayed hypersensitivity in the guinea-pig to a protein-hapten conjugate and its relationship to in vitro transformation of lymph node, spleen, thymus and peripheral blood lymphocytes. Immunology. 1967 Jan;12(1):89–102. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Plackett P., Marmion B. P., Shaw E. J., Lemcke R. M. Immunochemical analysis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. 3. Separation and chemical identification of serologically active lipids. Aust J Exp Biol Med Sci. 1969 Apr;47(2):171–195. doi: 10.1038/icb.1969.19. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Senterfit L. B., Jensen K. E. Antimetabolic antibodies to Mycoplasma pneumoniae measured by tetrazolium reduction inhibition. Proc Soc Exp Biol Med. 1966 Jul;122(3):786–790. doi: 10.3181/00379727-122-31252. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Smith C. B., Chanock R. M., Friedewald W. T., Alford R. H. Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in volunteers. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1967 Jul 28;143(1):471–483. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1967.tb27691.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Sobeslavsky O., Prescott B., James W. D., Chanock R. M. Isolation and characterization of fractions of Mycoplasma pneumoniae. II. Antigenicity and immunogenicity. J Bacteriol. 1966 Jun;91(6):2126–2138. doi: 10.1128/jb.91.6.2126-2138.1966. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  18. Somerson N. L., James W. D., Walls B. E., Chanock R. M. Growth of Mycoplasma pneumoniae on a glass surface. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1967 Jul 28;143(1):384–389. doi: 10.1111/j.1749-6632.1967.tb27680.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  19. Steinberg P., White R. J., Fuld S. L., Gutekunst R. R., Chanock R. M., Senterfit L. B. Ecology of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infections in marine recruits at Parris Island, South Carolina. Am J Epidemiol. 1969 Jan;89(1):62–73. doi: 10.1093/oxfordjournals.aje.a120916. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  20. Williams M. H., Taylor-Robinson D. Antigenicity of Mycoplasma membranes. Nature. 1967 Aug 26;215(5104):973–974. doi: 10.1038/215973a0. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

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

RESOURCES