AIDS-RELATED BURKITTS-TYPE LYMPHOMAS ARE A TARGET FOR LYMPHOKINE-ACTIVATED KILLERS INDUCED BY INTERLEUKIN-2 AND PROLACTIN

The development of non-Hodgkin's lymphomas (NHL) is one of the major c omplications of AIDS, Although several biologic aspects of AIDS-relate d NHL have been clarified, their sensitivity to immune system cytotoxi c effecters has not been tested, In this study, we have investigated t he susceptibility of one major AIDS-related NHL type, Burkitt's-type l ymphoma (BL), to the cytotoxic activity of lymphokine-activated killer s (LAK) and prolactin-activated killers (PAK), which were generated fr om peripheral blood mononuclear cells upon stimulation with interleuki n-2 (in the case of LAK cells) and prolactin (in the case of PAK cells ). The sensitivity of AIDS-related BL to in vitro raised cytotoxic eff ecters was compared with that of BL variants of the general population , including sporadic BL and endemic BL, The data show that AIDS-relate d BL is susceptible to cytolysis by LAI( cells, whereas both LAK and P AK cells can efficiently kill endemic BL. In contrast, sporadic BL sho wed resistance to all cytotoxic effecters tested, Intriguingly, in the case of AIDS-related and endemic BL suboptimal doses of interleukin-2 in combination with prolactin displayed a cytotoxic effect similar to that of LAK cells, suggesting a synergistic activity of the two agent s, Overall, these data corroborate the notion that the distinct BL var iants differ in their biologic features despite their morphologic and genetic similarity.