Effects of boldine on cellular immune functions in vitro.

The in vitro effects of boldine on natural killer (NK) cells, lectin-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (LDCC) and lectin-induced blast transformation were studied in patients with breast cancer, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and healthy donors. NK activity was measured against [51Cr]-labeled K-562 targets cells. LDCC and natural cell-mediated cytotoxicity (NCMC) were assessed using [3H]-thymidine-prelabeled HEp-2 cells. Lectin (PHA and Con A)-induced blast transformation was measured by thymidine incorporation. Boldine concentration-dependently decreased blastogenesis in normal subjects and patients with CLL. However, the decrease in breast cancer patients was significant only at higher concentrations. NK activity showed no change in healthy controls with normal values, but in cases with low activity treatment with boldine resulted in an increase. In patients with CLL, NK activity was enhanced; in tumor-bearing patients, however, there was no effect. LDCC and NCMC activity did not change significantly in normal controls. In patients with CLL, NCMC activity significantly increased. In tumor-bearing patients, LDCC activity was strongly enhanced by higher concentrations of boldine, whereas NCMC activity changed significantly only at the concentration of 1.0 microgram/ml.