Increased suppressor cell activity in a patient with Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare pulmonary disease and hypogammaglobulinemia.

Immunologic studies were done in a patient with common variable hypogammaglobulinemia, bronchiectasis and M. avium intracellulare pulmonary infection. Adherent cells from the patient were found to suppress the proliferative response of normal control cells to PPD antigen. The suppression seemed to be mediated by prostaglandin as it was reversed by indomethacin. Increased suppressor cell activity may play an important role in the pathogenesis of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare infection by permitting the transformation of a status of colonization by the organism in pre-existing pulmonary conditions into an invasive, progressive disease.