T-CELL REACTIONS IN PATIENTS SHOWING ADVERSE IMMUNE-REACTIONS TO DRUGS

Objective and Design. To better understand how T cells react to small compounds, we investigated the in vitro T cell reactivity to drugs fro m drug allergic patients. Material and Subjects. Peripheral blood mono nuclear cells (PBMC) of three drug allergic individuals were stimulate d in vitro by different drugs. Methods. Proliferation was assayed by H -3-thymidine incorporation. Upregulation of activation parameter on T cells was done by immunofluorescence and cytokine release determined v ia standard ELISA. Results. Drugs can stimulate both CD4 and CD8 T-cel l subsets. PenG-stimulated PBMC showed a heterogenous cytokine pattern and clones secreted high amounts of INF gamma. In contrast, sulfameth oxazole and lidocaine-stimulated PBMC secrete high levels of IL-5 and lidocaine-specific clones can be Th1 or Th2-like. Conclusion. Drug spe cific T cells play a pivotal role in drug hypersensitivity reactions, both by regulating the immune response and probably also as specific e ffector cells with different patterns of cytokine release.