[In vitro production of a human lymphokine by a specific mitogen in primary glomerular nephropathies]

Con A stimulated lymphocytes from some patients with primary glomerular disease release in vitro a lymphokine, the vascular permeability factor (VPF). House dust sensitization was early reported among these patients. We therefore studied the action of this specific mitogen on VPF production in 58 patients with primary glomerular disease, whose 23 chosen because cutaneous house dust sensitivity. For the whole patients, house dust and Con A induced VPF production were statistically equivalent and both higher than that of unstimulated lymphocytes. Lymphocytes from the 23 house dust sensitised patients, stimulated by the allergen, produced more VPF than lymphocytes from unsensitised patients.