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The Interaction of Maintenance Interferon with Cytolytic Cells in Patients with Multiple Myeloma Who Responded to Cytotoxic Chemotherapy
Author(s) -
Hall Philip D.,
Self Sally E.,
Hall Rayna Kneuper
Publication year - 1997
Publication title -
pharmacotherapy: the journal of human pharmacology and drug therapy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.227
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1875-9114
pISSN - 0277-0008
DOI - 10.1002/j.1875-9114.1997.tb03706.x
Subject(s) - bone marrow , medicine , cd16 , multiple myeloma , immunology , natural killer cell , cytotoxic t cell , monocyte , cd3 , interferon , cd8 , gastroenterology , antigen , biology , in vitro , biochemistry
Study Objective . To determine the long‐term effects of maintenance interferon on CD56+ and CD3+ cell activity. Design . Prospective phase II trial. Setting . Tertiary medical center and level 2 Veterans Administration hospital. Patients . Seven patients (age 45–74 yrs) with multiple myeloma who had reached the plateau phase from cytotoxic chemotherapy, and seven age‐ and sex‐matched controls. Interventions . All patients were given interferon‐α2b 3 × 10 6 U/m 2 3 times/week. Measurements and Main Results . The CD56+, CD3+, and CD16+ counts were determined by flow cytometry in both peripheral blood and bone marrow. Natural killer (NK) cell functional activity was determined by a 51 chromium release assay. Monocyte cell numbers were determined from the white blood cell count with differential. Interleukin‐6 (IL‐6) concentrations were determined by a commercially available enzyme‐linked immunosorbent assay. During the 24‐week study, the peripheral blood CD3+ and monocyte counts in patients with myeloma remained constant (p>0.39) but their absolute CD56+ counts decreased significantly (p=0.05). In peripheral blood, CD56+, CD16‐, CD3‐ was the predominant phenotype in patients. The predominant phenotype in bone marrow was CD56+, CD16‐, CD3+ at baseline but changed to CD56+, CD16‐, CD3‐ by week 24. The cytolytic activity of NK cells significantly increased in bone marrow (p=0.05) whereas it remained stable in the peripheral blood (p=0.55), but only half that of the controls. Concentrations of IL‐6 did not increase significantly during the study. Conclusion . In peripheral blood, NK cell activity remained stable in patients but was significantly lower than that in controls, probably secondary to the predominance of the CD56+, CD16‐, CD3‐ phenotype in the patients. In contrast, NK cell activity increased significantly in bone marrow despite the predominance of the CD56+, CD16‐, CD3‐ phenotype by week 24.