Inappropriate peripheral blood lymphocyte responses to herpes viruses in patients with Behçet's syndrome

Specific antibody production and the proliferative response of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) to a variety of viruses, including herpes simplex virus-type-1 (HSV-1) and varicella zoster (VZ), were studied in 7 patients with Behçet's syndrome. None of the patients produced an antibody response against HSV-1 or VZ. Furthermore, none of the patients showed a proliferative response to VZ, and three of them also failed to mount a response to HSV-1. These results suggest that the PBLs of patients with Behçet's syndrome make an inappropriately poor antibody and proliferative response when stimulated by HSV-1 and VZ.