Impaired autologous mixed lymphocyte reactivity in Hodgkin's disease

In patients with Hodgkin's disease, the impaired immune reactivity, especially of the thymus dependent system, is well established. This decreased immune response of the lymphocytes from the peripheral blood contrast to an increased lymphocytopoiesis in the the lymphatic organs with a hyperplasia of these tissues. We studied the reactivity of peripheral T lymphocytes from 20 patients with Hodgkin's disease and 26 healthy control persons against autologous and allogeneic non T cells respectively in the mixed lymphocyte culture (MLC). Our experiments show an extremely depressed autologous mixed lymphocyte reactivity (MLR) of T lymphocytes from patients with Hodgkin's disease compared to those from normal donors. In the allogeneic MLC, the proliferation of the patients' T cells was stronger than in the autologous MLC, but significant lower than the proliferation of normal T lymphocytes when stimulated by normal non T cells. Patients' non T cells stimulated T lymphocytes from healthy donors as well as non T lymphocytes from normals did. Finally, the autologous MLR of normal lymphocytes was significantly suppressed by 18 of 23 sera from Hodgkin's patients when these sera were substituted for normal AB serum in the cultures. These results demonstrate an impaired function of T lymphocytes from patients with Hodgkin's disease in the autologous MLC and the presence of one or more factors in their serum which inhibit the proliferation of normal lymphocytes in the autologous MLC. The role of suppressor cells and their factors will be discussed.