Anti-interleukin-1 reactive cells in Hodgkin's disease

Constitutional symptoms (or B-symptoms) of Hodgkin's disease may be mediated by interleukin 1 (IL-1), a product of macrophage-histiocytes. To further study this relation, the authors examined the cells that reacted with anti-human IL-1 antibody in biopsy specimens from 140 untreated patients with Hodgkin's disease (72 asymptomatic patients and 68 with B-symptoms). Fever was the most common symptom, present in 57 of the 68 patients. Anti-IL-1 reactive cells were observed in 62 cases. A positive staining reaction was observed in three types of cells: Reed-Sternberg and related (R-S) cells (33 cases); small to medium cells of undetermined origin (18); and granulocytes (11). The staining was negative in 78 cases, including 42 with B-symptoms. The majority of tumors (27/33) with positively stained R-S cells were from asymptomatic patients. Most tumors (14/18) with positively stained small to medium sized cells were from patients with B-symptoms. Large numbers of granulocytes were positively stained in five asymptomatic patients and six with B-symptoms. The immunohistochemical demonstration of IL-1-bearing cells in tumors does not correlate with the manifestation of constitutional symptoms in Hodgkin's disease.