Action of 2'-deoxycoformycin on mitogen-induced lymphoproliferation in the neonatal period.

The effect of 2'deoxycoformycin (dCF), a potent inhibitor of adenosine deaminase (ADA), on the proliferation of mononuclear cells from cord blood and from healthy controls as a response to the two mitogenic agents PHA and ConA was studied. The addition of dCF simultaneously with the mitogen did not modify cell proliferation either in neonates or in controls. Added 20 min before the mitogens, dCF induced in adults lymphocytes a significant inhibition in the response to PHA (68.11 +/- 10.40% of response in control cultures) and to ConA (58.78 +/- 26.23%). By contrast, in the neonatal period it induced a stimulatory effect on this response, both when PHA (117.64 +/- 26.48% of basal response) and ConA (108.18 +/- 21.72%) were employed. The possibility is discussed that this different function in lymphocyte behaviour in the newborn might contribute to the immunologic abnormality which children affected with ADA deficiency may exhibit at this age and also to the delay in the onset of clinical manifestations of immunodeficiency due to the defect in this enzyme.