Anti-adrenal cellular hypersensitivity in Addison's disease. IV. In vivo and in vitro investigations on the mitochondrial fraction

Abstract

Nine patients with idiopathic Addison's disease and three patients with diabetes mellitus and circulating anti-adrenal antibody but without Addison's disease were studied.

The organ-specific, anti-adrenal cellular hypersensitivity previously demonstrated by means of the leucocyte migration test in patients with idiopathic Addison's disease was found to be directed against the mitochondrial fraction of normal, human, foetal adrenocortical cells as well as of human, benign hyperplastic adrenal glands. The mitochondrial fraction of human, foetal liver cells did not cause inhibition of migration.

In lymphocyte cultures from the patients with idiopathic Addison's disease the adrenocortical, mitochondrial fraction did not induce blast transformation. The two in vitro reactions therefore probably express different kinds of reactivity.

The adrenocortical mitochondrial fraction was able to elicit intracutaneous reactions of delayed type in patients with a positive leucocyte migration test to the same antigen. This observation confirms, that inhibition of leucocyte migration in vitro indicates a state of anti-adrenal cellular hypersensitivity in patients with idiopathic Addison's disease.