[Effect of humoral factors produced by lymphocytes on hematopoietic progenitor cells--productive ability of colony stimulating activities and interferon-gamma by blood mononuclear cells in patients with aplastic anemia].

To evaluate the role of cytokines in patients with aplastic anemia, colony stimulating activities (CSA) and interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) in cultured media of lymphocytes with phytohemagglutinin (PHA-LCM) were measured with methylcellulose culture method in 20 patients (age 3 to 69 years). The CSA for granulocyte/macrophage (GM-CSA) in patients was equivalent to that of normal donors, while low burst promoting activity (BPA) was observed in PHA-LCM from 7 adult patients (61 +/- 17%). The ability of BPA production varied widely in 13 children (97 +/- 37%). In some patients, low production of BPA improved after successful treatment of antilymphocyte globulin. The IFN-gamma in PHA-LCM disclosed no significant difference between patients and normal donors. From these results, low production of BPA may have a role in the development of AA in certain patients. It is also suggested that therapy with recombinant cytokines such as GM-CSF and IL-3, detected as BPA in our culture system, could be effective for those patients.