Stohl W, Cunningham-Rundles C, Mayer L
Rockefeller University, New York 10021.
Clin Immunol Immunopathol. 1988 Nov;49(2):273-82. doi: 10.1016/0090-1229(88)90117-1.
Patients with common varied immunodeficiency (CVI) are characterized by hypogammaglobulinemia. We investigated in vitro T cell-dependent B cell differentiation in CVI peripheral blood mononuclear cells by stimulating the T cells with an anti-CD3 (T3) monoclonal antibody. In cultures from CVI patients with no detectable circulating B cells, little immunoglobulin (Ig) was produced following anti-CD3 stimulation. In cultures from CVI patients with near-normal numbers of circulating B cells, anti-CD3 stimulation induced a normal percentage increase in Ig-secreting cells and appreciable (albeit subnormal) increases in IgG and IgM secretion. Cell-mixing experiments pointed to a quantitative, rather than qualitative, defect in B cell function in most of these CVI patients. Nevertheless, CVI T cells can induce substantial differentiation of autologous (and normal) B cells following anti-CD3 stimulation (which may mimic physiologic stimulation). This raises the possibility of correcting the hypogammaglobulinemia of CVI by in vivo or ex vivo administration of appropriate T cell stimuli.
