[Cellular mediated immunity in virus infections]

Abstract

The intervention of cellular immunity in the course of specific antiviral defence is suggested or confirmed by a series of clinical and experimental findings, i.e. the evolution of certain viral diseases following a second contact with viral antigens; discrepancy between the level of antiviral serum antibodies and the clinical course of some viral diseases; pathohistological alterations in some viral diseases, suggesting the intervention of cellular immunity; the clinical aspects of natural or experimental viral diseases in primary and secondary immunodeficiency. Investigations were likewise carried out on certain indices of cellular immunity in human or experimental viral diseases, such as delayed hypersensitivity skin tests; the transfer of immune lymphocytes; lymphocytic blastic transformation; inhibition of macrophage migration; specific cytotoxicity test. The problems concerning the role of cellular immunity in the specific defence against viruses may be grouped as follows: mechanisms of induction of the immune cellular response in viral infections; relationship between cellular and humoral immunity in antiviral resistance; relative independance of systemic and local cellular immunity in the course of viral diseases; the cellular basis of cellular mediated immunity in viral diseases.