A correlation between serum immunosuppressive acidic protein and altered immunocompetence in patients with brain tumours.

The present investigation was conducted to document a correlation between the serum levels of immunosuppressive acidic protein (IAP) and depressed lymphocyte responsiveness to mitogens in vitro in patients with intracranial tumours, and to delineate the possible roles of IAP upon immunocompetence in these patients. It was thought that high concentrations of IAP present in the serum of brain-tumour patients may play a significant role in the immunosuppression seen in this patient population. The effect of IAP upon mitogen-stimulated lymphocyte function was evaluated by tritiated (3H)-thymidine incorporation. Lymphocytes from both 30 patients with intracranial tumours and 30 normal individuals were incubated for 90 hours in culture medium in the presence of three mitogens: phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A), and pokeweed mitogen (PWM). Lymphocytes obtained from patients with brain tumours and cultured in autologous serum displayed a significant depression of 3H-thymidine incorporation, as was observed in previous studies. In addition, a significant suppression of mitogen-induced activation of the normal lymphocytes was demonstrated in the presence of allogeneic patients' serum and the percentage of inhibition was found significantly proportional to the IAP concentrations. Furthermore it was also demonstrated that increased levels of serum IAP could significantly correlate with two in vivo aspects of impaired cellular immunity: the decreased lymphocyte counts in the peripheral blood and diminished cutaneous delayed hypersensitivity reactions measured by purified protein derivative (PPD) skin test reactivity. On the other hand, an attempt was also made to investigate changes in humoral immunity and immunoglobulin concentrations were observed not to correspond to the serum IAP levels. These studies suggest a possible connection between serum IAP levels and altered cellular immune competence in brain-tumour patients.