Suppressor cell function in atopic dermatitis associated with elevated immunoglobulin E.

Suppressor cell function was evaluated in 11 patients with atopic dermatitis (AD) and elevated IgE levels (mean, 4,554 IU/ml +/- 1,825 SEM) and compared to 11 matched nonatopic controls (135 IU/ml +/- 52 SEM). Two assays were employed to evaluate suppressor cell function. In the first assay, concanavalin A--activated suppressor cell activity of AD and control subjects were compared. In the second assay, peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) from the same AD and control subjects were stimulated with varying doses of mitogen at day 0 and after 24 hr of preculture. In this system, increased proliferative response of precultured cells as compared to 0-hr cells has previously been shown in normals to represent loss of suppressor cell function in vitro. The lack of such an increase implies aberrant suppressor cell function. The data from both assays showed no significant difference in the degree of suppressor cell function of the patient population vs the control population. Thus, suppressor cell function as tested in these proliferative assays appears normal in AD patients with increased IgE.