Langerhans cells but not monocytes are capable of antigen presentation in vitro in corticosteroid contact hypersensitivity.

Corticosteroids suppress delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) reactions in vivo and impair lymphoid cell functions in vitro. In contact hypersensitivity (CHS) to corticosteroids, however, the corticosteroids are capable of inducing DTH responses in vivo. The present study examined the capacity of corticosteroids to induce in vitro proliferation of T lymphocytes from patients with CHS to corticosteroids. With peripheral blood mononuclear adherent cells as antigen-presenting cells (APC) and hydrocortisone-17-butyrate (H-17-B) as hapten, no proliferation responses were detected of T lymphocytes from patients with CHS to H-17-B. However, when epidermal Langerhans cells (LC) were used as APC, weak proliferation responses were observed.