The roles of leukaemic and residual normal cells in the proliferative response of chronic lymphocytic leukaemic lymphocytes to mitogens
Johnstone, A.P.; Millard, R.E.; Hudson, L.
Clinical and Experimental Immunology 47(3): 689-696
1982
ISSN/ISBN: 0009-9104 PMID: 6979444 Document Number: 183019
The proliferative response of lymphocytes from patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) to the polyclonal activators, phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and pokeweed mitogen (PWM), correlates inversely with the logarithm of the circulating lymphocyte concentration in vivo (P < 0.001). This suggests that the response is due primarily to residual normal cells in the circulation. In support of this postulate, dilution of normal cells reproduced the effect and also induced a delayed response to PHA, which is found frequently with CLL lymphocytes. A combination of autoradiography and immunofluorescence microscopy identified both B and T cells in the responding population in similar proportions from both normal and CLL donors. The 3H-thymidine assay used in most mitogenic studies evidently is not suitable alone for investigating the functional capacity of leukemic lymphocytes in CLL and other diseases involving a gross perturbation of lymphocyte populations.