Defective gamma-interferon production in peripheral blood leukocytes of patients with acute tuberculosis

Production of interferon (IFN)-gamma by peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) was examined in cultures of unseparated fresh whole blood exposed to phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A), or pokeweed mitogen (PWM). The yield of IFN-gamma was measured by a newly developed immunoradiometric assay. Nine of 14 patients with acute pulmonary tuberculosis (TB) showed a depressed IFN-gamma response to Con A and/or PWM. Only four of these TB patients also showed a depressed IFN-gamma response to PHA. Stimulation of the patients' PBL cultures with PHA in the presence of exogenous interleukin 2 (IL 2) produced normal IFN-gamma yields in all but the most severely depressed patients. PBL cultures of TB patients with defective IFN-gamma production in response to mitogenic lectins also produced less IFN-gamma after stimulation with tuberculin PPD. Although some patients showed a moderate degree of lymphopenia, their OKT4/T8 lymphocyte ratios were mostly normal or close to normal, with the notable exception of one TB patient who has been diagnosed to have the acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS).