In vitro effects of interleukin-2 and gamma globulin on immune dysfunction in a patient with severe mucocutaneous herpes simplex virus infection.

A previously healthy woman developed severe, recurrent mucocutaneous herpes simplex virus (HSV) infection at 21 years of age. Immunologic assessment over the past 2 years has revealed persistent T-cell and natural killer cell dysfunction despite normal numbers of these cells as measured by flow cytometry. We studied the effect of recombinant interleukin 2 (rIL-2) and gamma globulin on the patient's mononuclear cells in 18-hour 51Cr release assays using HSV-infected and uninfected target cells. Both gamma globulin and rIL-2 significantly enhanced target cell lysis of HSV-infected target cells (P less than .001), but did not increase lysis of uninfected target cells. Addition of the patient's serum had no effect on HSV-infected target cell lysis despite a high HSV IgG titer, indicating a possible specific abnormality in production of antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity antibody.