ABSTRACT
Natural killer (NK) cytotoxic activity was simultaneously investigated in bone marrow mononuclear cells (BMMC) and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from nine Hodgkin's disease (HD) and 15 non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) untreated patients. Twenty-five PBL samples and seven bone marrow specimens from healthy individuals were also included as control group (C). NK cell activity was evaluated in basal condition and post-stimulation with human recombinant IL-2 (rIL-2). Data were expressed in K values (number of BMMC or PBL needed to lyse 50% of the target cells). In basal condition, both HD and NHL patients showed a NK cell activity comparable to the C group, both in BMMC (HD, K = 2.48 +/- 1.3; NHL, K = 3.8 +/- 2.0; C, K = 3.2 +/- 0.7) and PBL (HD, K = 2.0 +/- 1.0; NHL, K = 2.3 +/- 1.0; C, K = 2.2 +/- 0.2). Stimulation with rIL-2 induced a significant and comparable enhancement of the NK activity in PBL from HD, NHL and C while the response to rIL-2 of the BMMC in most of the HD and NHL patients was significantly greater than the C group. Responder cells were characterized by negative selection with specific MoAb plus complement as a CD3-, CD16+, CD56+ cytotoxic cell and further confirmed by flow cytometry. We postulate that IL-2 activation of bone marrow NK cell precursors, in addition to enhancing the activity of circulating NK, may be of value for the therapeutic rationale of IL-2 in patients with lymphoma.
Subject(s)
Bone Marrow/immunology , Interleukin-2/pharmacology , Killer Cells, Natural/immunology , Lymphoma/immunology , Adolescent , Adult , Aged , Antigens, CD/physiology , Antigens, Differentiation, T-Lymphocyte/physiology , CD3 Complex , CD56 Antigen , Child , Cytotoxicity, Immunologic , Humans , Killer Cells, Natural/drug effects , Middle Aged , Receptors, Antigen, T-Cell/physiology , Recombinant Proteins/pharmacologyABSTRACT
Five hundred serum samples from volunteers blood donors were investigated in order to determine the presence of anti-HCV antibodies by an enzyme-linked immunoassay recently developed worldwide. Prevalence of true-positive samples was 1.2% (6/500), 2 fold higher than the reported prevalence in most of the industrialized countries. From these 6 sera, one (16.6%) showed simultaneous reactivity for HBV anticore antibody. Three sera (25%) from 12 patients with diagnosis of Non-A Non-B hepatitis were reactive for anti-HCV antibodies while in a group of 32 sera with negative HAV and HBV screening, 4 (12.5%) showed anti-HCV antibodies. Two samples out of 16 sera persistently positive for anticore demonstrated the presence of anti-HCV antibodies. The anti-HCV antibodies were undetectable in two cases of autoimmune chronic hepatitis. Our results indicate that in Venezuela, HCV represents a significant problem of public health coexisting in certain cases with HBV infection.
Subject(s)
Hepatitis C/epidemiology , Antibodies, Viral/isolation & purification , Blood Donors , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Hepacivirus/immunology , Hepatitis C/blood , Hepatitis C/immunology , Humans , Prevalence , Venezuela/epidemiologyABSTRACT
En el presente estudio se evaluó la SP y MO de 21 pacientes, no tratados con diagnóstico de linfoma y provenientes de la Unidad de Linfomas del Hospital Universitario de Caracas. El protocolo de investigación incluyó parámetros clínicos e histológicos. En los grupos estudiados se evaluó el porcentaje de células killer naturales (NK) mediante el uso de anticuerpos monoclonales, así como la actividad NK basal postestimulación in vitro con 500/ml de IL 2. Los resultados muestran que los porcentajes de células en SP y MO son similares en pacientes con EH y LNH en relación al grupo de control