Phytohaemagglutinin-induced cytotoxic effector lymphocyte function in patients with the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome (WAS)

Abstract

Patients with the Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome have immunodeficiency characterized by defective antibody production and clinical anergy. In vitro lymphocyte proliferative responses to non-specific mitogens in these patients, however, are normal. To determine if their anergy might be the result of failure to produce cytotoxic effector lymphocytes, peripheral blood leucocytes were cultured with ⁵¹Cr-labelled chicken erythrocyte targets in the presence of PHA. Lymphocytes from patients with the Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome had normal PHA induced cytotoxicity responses and this result is discussed in relation to a postulated defect in the afferent limb of the immune response.