Open AccessDefects in antigen‐driven lymphocyte responses in common variable immunodeficiency (CVID) are due to a reduction in the number of antigen‐specific CD4 + T cells
Author(s) -
FUNAUCHI M.,
FARRANT J.,
MORENO C.,
WEBSTER A. D. B.
Publication year - 1995
Publication title -
clinical & experimental immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.329
H-Index - 135
eISSN - 1365-2249
pISSN - 0009-9104
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1995.tb02281.x
Subject(s) - common variable immunodeficiency , immunology , antigen , cytotoxic t cell , antigen presenting cell , biology , cd8 , t lymphocyte , antibody , t cell , immune system , in vitro , biochemistry
SUMMARY T cells from patients with CVID have defects that may relate to the failure in vivo of B cell production of antibodies. Antigen‐driven responses of T cells from CVID patients and normal subjects have been assessed by measuring DNA synthesis in vitro. Low density cells enriched for antigen‐presenting dendritic cells were pulsed with purified protein derivative (PPD) and cultured with autologous T cells. Overall, T cells from CVID patients showed a significantly low mean response to PPD, although non‐specific DNA synthesis induced in CVID T cells by IL‐2 was within the normal range. However, mean PPD‐specific T cell responses in CVID were not restored by IL‐2 irrespective of the presence of monocytes. Depletion of CD8 + cells also failed to restore the mean PPD response of CVID CD4 + T cells. Limiting dilution analysis showed that in CVID there was a reduced frequency of antigen‐specific cells within the T cell preparations. The mean frequency of the PPD‐specific T cells in cultures from patients vaccinated with bacille Calmette‐Guérin (BCG) was reduced to 1 in 109000 T cells compared with 1 in 18 600 T cells in BCG‐vaccinated normal donors. These data show that the reduced PPD‐specific response in CVID is due to a partial peripheral loss of antigen‐specific cells.