Leucocyte migration inhibition and leucocyte adherence inhibition studies, using ferritin as 'antigen', in patients with malignant lymphoma.

Isoelectric focusing of ferritin prepared from three spleens involved by Hodgkin's disease demonstrated only minor differences from normal spleen ferritin. The leucocyte migration inhibition (LMI) and leucocyte adherence inhibition (LAI) assays were used to assess sensitization to Hodgkin's disease spleen ferritin and its component acidic and basic isoferritins in patients with malignant lymphoma compared to patients with other malignancies and control subjects. A difference in response to ferritin was demonstrated in both tests with patients with malignant lymphoma compared to controls, and in LMI test compared to patients with other malignancies. There were also significant differences in responses in, patients with malignant lymphoma compared to controls, against acidic and basic isoferritins in both tests, in lymphoma patients versus patients with other malignancies against acidic isoferritins in both tests, lymphoma versus other malignancy against basic isoferritins in the LMI test only. However, no significant differences, within each group, between responses with acidic and with basic isoferritins were demonstrated, and there was no correlation between individual patients' responses in the two tests.