Immunostimulation by cytomegalovirus (CMV): helper T cell-dependent activation of immunoglobulin production in vitro by lymphocytes from CMV-immune donors.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) is the cause of a number of different diseases ranging from self-limited benign infections in healthy adults to life threatening illnesses among immunocompromised hosts and newborns. Suppression of cell-mediated immunity is often found in cases of acute CMV infection, and in addition, the virus may also be a potent stimulant of lymphoid cells in vivo. We studied cellular proliferation and immunoglobulin (Ig) production induced by CMV to determine its effect on human lymphocytes in vitro. The CMV that was added to cultures of lymphocytes from CMV-seronegative donors failed to induce either significant cellular proliferation or Ig production. By contrast, CMV-stimulated cultures from CMV-seropositive donors induced both prominent cellular proliferation and Ig production. B cell differentiation into Ig-secreting cells required the presence of T cells, and this T cell help was sensitive to irradiation with 2000 rad and to treatment with cyclosporin A. When T cells were depleted of OKT4+ cells with monoclonal antibody and complement, the co-cultured B cells failed to produce Ig, whereas the depletion of OKT8+ cells had no effect on the Ig-secreting cell response. Inactivation of CMV before culture did not result in a reduction of either cellular proliferation or Ig production. Thus, infection of target cells is not required for in vitro lymphocyte activation by CMV. These results demonstrate that CMV is a potent activator of B cells inducing Ig production in vitro, and that this process requires the presence of virus-specific memory T cells.