Impaired reactivity of burn patient lymphocytes to phytohemagglutinin in autologous serum: Failure to improve responsiveness by washing in vitro

Abstract

Twenty-one peripheral blood lymphocyte samples from 17 burned patients with injuries of varying severity were examined for reactivity to stimulation by phytohemagglutinin in pooled and autologous serum, and compared to samples from simultaneously tested normal controls. The burn lymphocytes were less reactive than controls ( P < 0.05) in either serum, but were most hyporesponsive in autologous serum. The presence of immunosuppressive activity in burn serum did not correlate with the degree of cellular hyporesponsiveness to PHA. The reactivity could not be improved by washing the cells prior to stimulation. These results indicate that the impaired responsiveness of lymphocytes from burn patients to PHA is not due to loose association of a circulating immunosuppressor with the cell membrane and may, instead, be due in part to the emergence of a suppressor T-cell population.