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In Vitro and In Vivo Measurement of Cell‐Mediated Immunity in Patients with HIV‐1 Infection
Author(s) -
BORLEFFS J. C. C.,
SCHUURMAN H.J.,
VREHEN H. M.,
SCHAIK M. VAN,
BAST E. J. E. G.
Publication year - 1993
Publication title -
scandinavian journal of immunology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.934
H-Index - 88
eISSN - 1365-3083
pISSN - 0300-9475
DOI - 10.1111/j.1365-3083.1993.tb01675.x
Subject(s) - clostridium tetani , in vivo , tuberculin , immune system , immunology , in vitro , immunity , antigen , medicine , delayed hypersensitivity , tetanus , biology , vaccination , tuberculosis , pathology , biochemistry , microbiology and biotechnology
We studied the usefulness of the in vitro lymphoproliferation assay and the in vivo skin lest in HIV‐1‐infected patients by using Chotridium tetani and tuberculin as testing antigens. Moreover, the relationship between data obtained from both assays was studied. In 56 HIV‐infected patients not receiving antiretroviral therapy CD4 + cell counting was performed. In addition, in vitro (lymphocyte proliferation assay) and in vivo (delayed type hypersensitivity skin test) measuring of the immune status was done using C. tetani atid tuberculin as testing antigens. When using C. tetani a significant correlation between the results of both tests and the CD4 + cell count was found. In contrast to earlier reports from African countries, in vivo skin testing using tuberculin did not yield clinically significant information on the degree of Immunodeficiency. We explain our findings by the fact that healthcare policy in The Netherlands encompasses vaccination with C. tetani . which enables the application of C. tetani as testing antigen for measuring immune function both in vitro and in vivo .