Immunologic evaluation of patients with polychlorinated biphenyl poisoning: evaluation of delayed-type skin hypersensitive response and its relation to clinical studies.

Polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB) poisoning causes many physiological abnormalities including immune suppression. Cellular immunity was studied in 30 PCB-poisoned patients and 50 normal human subjects. PCB poisoning caused suppression of cellular immunity such as the delayed-type skin response to streptokinase and streptodornase. The suppression of cellular immunity was correlated with the severity of the disease. Thus evaluation of the immune function may be helpful for the diagnosis of PCB poisoning.