Defective functional response to membrane stimuli in lymphocytes from patients with benign prostatic hyperplasia

Benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH) is a local disturbance in the prostate that may involve an inflammatory infiltrate predominantly composed of activated lymphocytes and macrophages. The activation and proliferative response of T lymphocytes to different mitogenic signals has been analysed in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 45 patients with BPH and 55 healthy controls. The PBMC obtained from the patients showed a significant specific impairment in proliferation, CD25 expression and IL-2 production in response to stimulation with lectins (phytohaemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (Con A)), that was not corrected by the addition of IL-2 or of phorbol esters (phorbol myristate acetate (PMA)). Also, the CD28 response was defective in patient PBMC. Activation with anti-CD3 or anti-CD2 MoAbs was normal, but the addition of PMA to these stimuli provoked a significant defective response. Only the use of transmembrane stimuli (PMA and ionomycin) elicited responses similar to those found in the control group. The results indicate that peripheral T lymphocytes from BPH patients show a functional impairment that is mainly explained by an alteration of membrane signals (PHA, CD28) and is distal to protein kinase C (PKC) activation.