[Action of the basic trypsin inhibitor on lymphocyte blastic transformation in vitro]

The effect of Basic-trypsin-inhibitor (BPTI) on the in vitro PHA-induced blastic transformation of lymphocytes is reported. Cultures of lymphocytes from healthy subjects were added with PHA, BPTI and PHA + BPTI; simple control-cultures were also performed. The blastic transformation was evaluated by morphologic method after 72 h incubation at 37 degrees C. The results are compared with Wilcoxon's test; it was observed that BPTI reduces the PHA-induced blastic transformation, but it has no effect on cultures without PHA. The hypothesis that BPTI inhibits only PHA-stimulated lymphocytes is suggested.