Evaluation of T Lymphocyte Effector Function in Immunodeficiency Diseases: Abnormality in Mitogen-Stimulated Interferon in Patients with Selective IgA Deficiency

Abstract

Abstract Interferon production in response to the mitogens phytohemagglutinin and pokeweed was studied as a new index of the competence of thymus-derived (T) lymphocyte effector function in patients with various immunodeficiency states. The results indicated that three of four patients with selective IgA deficiency and normal T cell proliferative response had a depressed T cell interferon response. Two patients who had received successful thymus transplants had a normal T cell interferon response. Before transplantation one had been diagnosed as severe combined immunodeficiency, and the other, thymic hypoplasia with normal serum immunoglobulin levels. By contrast, a patient with thymic hypoplasia and absent serum IgA, low IgM and normal IgG levels, who had had an unsuccessful thymic graft, had a markedly depressed interferon response. Normal T cell interferon responses were seen in one patient with congenital sex-linked hypogammaglobulinemia and three patients with acquired hypogammaglobulinemia.