A comparison of the effects of chlorpromazine and more selective histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine antagonists on human IgG synthesis in vitro.

We have shown previously that chlorpromazine, a drug associated with immunological abnormalities in vivo, significantly potentiates pokeweed mitogen (PWM)-stimulated IgG synthesis by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in culture. Chlorpromazine is a pharmacological antagonist of histamine and 5-hydroxytryptamine (5-HT) and thus may exert its immune-enhancing effects by competing with these amines for their respective receptors, which are known to be present on lymphocytes. In this report we show that histamine and 5-HT are present at micromolar concentrations in PBMC cultures. To examine the role of histamine and 5-HT in chlorpromazine-induced enhancement of IgG synthesis we incubated PWM-treated cells with a range of selective histamine and 5-HT antagonists, and with the amines added to cultures either alone or in combination with chlorpromazine. The H1 antagonists mepyramine and promethazine and the H2 antagonist cimetidine had no significant effect on IgG synthesis. The combined 5-HT1/5-HT2 antagonists methysergide and methiothepin also failed to modulate synthesis. Neither histamine nor 5-HT at concentrations up to 100 microM modulated IgG synthesis, nor did they abrogate the enhancement of IgG synthesis induced by chlorpromazine. We conclude that the modulation of IgG synthesis in vitro by chlorpromazine cannot be attributed to an interaction of this drug with lymphocyte receptors for histamine and 5-HT. Other possibilities for the mechanism of action of this drug on immune function are discussed.