Abstract
Numerous aberrations in cellular and humoral immunity have been described in JRA including defective antigen (Ag) and mitogen induced lymphocyte proliferation. However, Ag induced antibody (Ab) or mitogen induced lymphokine production have not been systematically studied. To assess the humoral immune response in JRA we injected 8 patients intravenously with bacteriophage 0X 174, a T cell dependent neoantigen, and studied specific Ab responses both in vivo and in vitro, using a phage neutralization assay. In vivo Ab responses to 0X 174 were normal in 3 patients and quantitatively deficient in 5. Seven patients switched from IgM to IgG after secondary immunization, 1 failed to produce IgG antibody. All patients showed deficient in vitro Ag induced Ab responses. Spontaneous in vitro Ab production was normal in all patients; however, Ag induced Ab responses were deficient in all. Co-culture experiments suggested a B cell defect in 1 patient and a combined B cell/T cell defect in the other 7 patients. In vitro interleukin 2 (IL2) production by peripheral blood mononuclear cells using PHA or ConA/PMA stimulation was low in all JRA patients. Anti-T cell antibodies could not be demonstrated in patient sera using indirect immunofluorescence and complement mediated toxicity assays. There was no correlation between degree of humoral immunodeficiency and defective IL2 production, and immunologic abnormalities did not correlate with disease subtype, disease activity or the presence of antinuclear antibodies or rheumatoid factor. The demonstrated immune defects may play a direct role in the pathogenesis of 3RA or alternatively represent merely a feature of the disease.
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Uowite, N., Ochs, H. & Wedgwood, R. 989 IMPAIRED ANTIBODY RESPONSE TO BACTERIOPHAGE ØX 174 IN JUVENILE RHEUMATOID ARTHRITIS (JRA). Pediatr Res 19, 275 (1985). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-01019
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198504000-01019