Reconstitution of T-cell function in severe combined immunodeficiency disease following transplantation of early embryonic liver cells.

In a 51/2-month-old male infant with adenosine deaminase-positive severe combined immunodeficiency disease, who had no suitable bone marrow donor, immunologic reconstitution was attempted with lymphoid cells obtained from the liver of a 4- to 5-week-old-male human embryo. A mild graft-versus-host reaction began three weeks later. T-cells, which were absent prior to infusion of hepatic lymphoid cells, rose to a maximum of 554/mm3 at 16 weeks post transplantation. A normal lymphocyte response to pokeweek mitogen was not present until 25 to 30 weeks and to allogeneic cells until 39 weeks. Postive in vitro lymphocyte responses to Candida albicans were found repeatedly after 52 weeks. Twenty months following transplantation the patient is free of clinical infection, although he requires regular injections of gamma globulin.