Abstract
The inhibition of immune cell migration in the presence of specific antigen has long been considered an in vitro correlate of delayed type hypersensitivity (1, 2) and a parameter of cell-mediated immunity (3). Inhibition of migration (IM) of macrophages is brought about by migration inhibition factor (MIF) (3) and that of peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) by leukocyte inhibitory factor (LIF) (10). Both lymphokines are released by sensitized T cells in the presence of specific antigen. The use of the migration inhibition test in clinical work has been hampered by the cumbersome nature of the assay. A photoelectric method for reading cell migrations from capillary tubes (4) or from agarose microdroplets (5), originally developed for mouse cells, has been adapted for migration of human PBL (6). The method was shown to be more sensitive than drawing and planimetry (5, 6), and its extreme rapidity enables the use of a wide range (10 logs or more) of in vitro concentrations of antigen. In these experiments, IM from agarose microdroplets of PBL of patients with presumed drug-induced pneumonitis was studied in the presence of a wide range of drug concentrations, and IM was found to occur only in a zone of very low drug concentrations.
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