beta-Adrenergic effect of antibodies from chagasic patients and normal human lymphocytes on isolated rat atria.

It was previously shown that fresh sera from chagasic patients that contained antibodies reacting with the plasma membrane of striated muscle and endothelial cells (EVI(+) serum) could act in co-operation with complement as a partial beta-agonist increasing the frequency of contraction of isolated rat atria. This activity was absent in EVI(-) chagasic serum or normal human serum and was lost upon heat-inactivation of EVI(+) serum. Also, IgG purified from EVI(+) serum was virtually devoid of activity. In this report we demonstrate that normal human lymphocytes can collaborate with EVI(+) IgG or heat-inactivated EVI(+) sera and induce both positive ino- and chronotropic effects on isolated rat atria. Depletion of phagocytic mononuclear cells from the effector cell population did not alter its activity, whereas blockade of the receptors for the Fc fragment of IgG with heat-aggregated IgG abrogated the effect. After fractionation of the T and non-T cell populations by sedimentation of E rosette forming cells the activity was present in the non-T cell fraction. The mechanism triggered involved a beta-adrenergic reaction that could be blocked by 10 M (-)-propanolol and not by inhibitors of prostaglandin synthesis (10 M indomethacin and 1·8 × 10 M acetyl salicylic acid) or an anti-histamine drug (10 M pyrilamine). Since positive EVI reactivity and myocardial lympho-mononuclear cell infiltrates are frequent in patients with chronic Chagas' cardiomyo-pathy, the possibility that they could interact influencing the rhythm and contractile activity of the heart should be taken into account.