[Effects of nephrectomy and interferon administration on immunological parameters in patients with renal cell...

To study the changes in the subsets of peripheral blood lymphocytes before and after nephrectomy and interferon (IFN) therapy, 57 patients with renal cell carcinoma were divided into three groups; one group consisted of 16 patients with metastasis who had been administered IFN-alpha, one group consisted of 16 patients without metastasis who had been administered IFN-alpha, and the other consisted of 25 patients without metastasis who had not been administered IFN-alpha. Immunological parameters such as percentages of NK (Leu-11+ [Leu-7-) cells, percentages of activated CD4 (Leu-3a+ HLA-DR+) positive cells and percentages of activated CD8 (Leu-2a+ HLA-DR+) positive cells were examined by two color flow cytometry and the percentages of CD4 (Leu-3a+) positive cells, percentages of CD8 (Leu-2a+) positive cells values and the ratio of percentages of CD4 positive cells/percentages of CD8 positive cells were evaluated. The percentages of NK cells showed a tendency to decrease after nephrectomy and the administration of IFN-alpha. The percentage of CD4 positive cells showed a significant increase after the administration of IFN-alpha. The percentage of activated CD4 positive cells and the ratio of percentage of CD4 positive cells/percentage of CD8 positive cells showed a tendency to increase slightly. The percentage of CD8 positive cells and percentage of activated CD8 positive cells showed no particular changes. There was a specific correlation between the administration of IFN-alpha and the changes of percentage of CD4-positive cells and this suggests that the administration of IFN-alpha led to the increase of helper T cells.