Reduced lymphocyte response to mitogens in patients with Bancroftian filariasis

Peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with acute and chronic Wuchereria bancrofti infections responded poorly to concanavalin A, phytohaemagglutinin and pokeweed mitogen when cultured in heat-inactivated pooled normal serum. The lymphocyte response to mitogens in carriers of microfilariae (mff) were normal. The suppression of transformation to mitogens was not reversible by the removal of plastic adherent cells. Incubation with mitogens and the adult filarial worm antigen (BmA) did not alter the mitogen response either in control subjects or in filarial patients. The possible mechanism of immunosuppression is discussed.