[Immunological aspects of Hodgkin's disease]

Immunological test alterations in Hodgkin's disease are described. Cutaneous reactivity to various antigens (tuberculin, oidiomycin, trichophytin, parotitis virus, candida, etc.), cutaneous reactivity to sensitizing chemical agents (DNCB, DNFB), lymphocyte blastization in vitro with PHA and various antigens, the reaction of homologous lymphocytes transferred to the skin, and the stimulation by the Hodgkin lymphocytes of homologous lymphocytes in unidirectional mixed culture, are all impaired. Antibody immunity would appear to be normal. The impairment of the T system and normality of the B system would explain these patients' much greater susceptibility to viral than to bacterial diseases. On the basis of the most recent research, it is hypothesized that underlying these phenomena is a deficiency in the H-LA system which makes it unable to recognize certain neoplastic antigens (Reed-Strenberg reticular cells, for example); stimulation of the B system by the formation of anti-T antibodies and subsequent depletion of this system.