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. 1970 Apr;6(4):573–586.

Impaired lymphocyte stimulation by some streptococcal antigens in patients with recurrent aphthous stomatitis and rheumatic heart disease*

T C Francis, J J Oppenheim
PMCID: PMC1712795  PMID: 5477922

Abstract

The effects of pathogenic and non-pathogenic streptococci, streptococcal cell wall products, and phytohaemagglutinin on human peripheral leucocyte cultures from four groups were studied. These groups were: (1) normals, (2) patients with aphthous stomatitis, (3) patients with Behçet's and (4) patients with rheumatic heart disease. The degree of lymphocyte stimulation by these materials was measured by uptake of [3H]thymidine into DNA in vitro. In normals, patients with aphthous stomatitis, and Behçet's disease, the human pathogenic group A streptococci produced significantly greater stimulation of DNA synthesis than did the less pathogenic non-haemolytic streptococci. Lymphocytes from patients with aphthous stomatitis showed significantly less stimulation of DNA synthesis than comparable normal controls when exposed to heat-killed Streptococcal 2A, organisms which have been implicated in the disease. Human pathogenic strains of group A streptococci which have been implicated in rheumatic heart disease stimulated significantly less in vitro proliferation of lymphocytes from patients with rheumatic heart disease than of those from a comparable group of normal controls. This hypo-responsiveness persisted when the patients' lymphocytes were cultured in normal human serum. The chronically ill Behçet's patients' lymphocytes did not differ significantly from normal. These observations indicate a deficiency of the cellular response of certain patients to antigens from organisms thought to be aetiologically related to their disease.

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Selected References

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

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