Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 8, 2026
Assessment of Antibody-based Drugs Effects on Murine Bone Marrow and Peritoneal Macrophage Activation
Published on: December 26, 2017
Immune-mediated interactions during macrophage development in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma
R J Sokol1, G Hudson, J M Wales
1Department of Medicine and Pharmacology, University of Sheffield, England, UK.
Insights
Patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) show defective macrophage maturation, evidenced by impaired erythrophagocytosis. This suggests a compromised host defense mechanism in NHL patients.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Hematology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Mononuclear phagocytes play a crucial role in host defense.
- Defective immune cell function is implicated in various malignancies.
- Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) is a malignancy affecting lymphocytes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate immune-mediated functions of mononuclear phagocytes in patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL).
- To compare erythrophagocytosis and rosette formation in monocytes and macrophages from NHL patients and healthy individuals.
- To assess the impact of autologous serum on these immune functions.
Main Methods:
- Mononuclear phagocytes were cultured from 10 untreated NHL patients and 12 healthy donors.
- Cells were analyzed at monocyte (Day 0) and macrophage (Day 6) stages for immune-mediated erythrophagocytosis and rosette formation.
- Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) was used to compare results between groups and culture stages.
- A pilot study involved culturing NHL cells with healthy donor serum.
Main Results:
- Significant differences in erythrophagocytosis were observed between NHL patients and controls (p<0.05).
- NHL-derived macrophages showed no significant increase in erythrophagocytosis from monocyte to macrophage stage (0.07 to 0.09).
- Normal individuals exhibited a marked increase in erythrophagocytosis during maturation (0.09 to 0.24).
- Rosette formation did not significantly differ between groups.
- Culturing NHL cells with healthy donor serum did not alter immune functions compared to autologous serum.
Conclusions:
- Patients with NHL exhibit defective macrophage maturation, specifically impaired immune-mediated erythrophagocytosis.
- This functional defect in macrophages may contribute to compromised host defense mechanisms in NHL.
- The findings highlight a potential cellular basis for increased susceptibility to infections in NHL patients.
Abstract:
As part of an investigation of mononuclear phagocytes in malignant lymphoma, measurement of immune-mediated erythrophagocytosis and rosette formation was carried out on cells grown in suspension culture at the monocyte (Day 0) and macrophage (Day 6) stages; the culture medium contained autologous serum. Cells were derived from 10 patients with untreated non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) and from 12 normal individuals. The results were subjected to Analysis of Variance and demonstrated a significant difference between the two groups with respect to erythrophagocytosis but not to rosette formation. In the NHL group, the proportion of erythrophagocytic cells showed no significant increase between the monocyte and macrophage stages (0.07 to 0.09), in contrast to the marked increase seen in the normal group (0.09 to 0.24). In a pilot investigation to examine the possible role of factors in the serum, cells derived from the NHL patients were cultured with serum from healthy donors; they showed no significant difference in the immune-mediated functions from those grown in autologous serum. Overall, the results provide further quantitative evidence of defective macrophage maturation in NHL, presumably reflecting the compromise of host defence mechanisms.
