02302nas a2200361   4500000000100000008004100001260001300042653002400055653002000079653001100099653002300110653002100133653001800154653001300172653001200185653002800197653002600225653001200251653002400263653001800287100002200305700002600327700001400353700001900367700001400386700001300400700002100413245013600434300001200570490000700582520133700589022001401926       1988                            d  c1988 Mar10aAntigens, Bacterial10aCells, Cultured10aHumans10aImmunity, Cellular10aInterferon-gamma10aInterleukin-210aLepromin10aleprosy10aLeukocytes, Mononuclear10aLymphocyte Activation10aMitosis10aPhytohemagglutinins10aT-Lymphocytes1 aGonzález-Amaro R1 aSalazar-González J F1 aBaranda L1 aAbud-Mendoza C1 aMoncada B1 aGarcia R1 aAlcocer-Varela J00aEvidence of cell-mediated immune contrasuppression in lepromatous leprosy: modulation of a putative T contrasuppressor cell-subset.  a399-4040 v713 a<p>Some lepromatous leprosy (LL) patients are characterized by the presence of activated suppressor T cells that specifically inhibit the immune response to Mycobacterium leprae antigens. Immune contrasuppressor (CS) cell activity antagonize suppressor function. Whereas the former function has been extensively studied in leprosy, the latter has not been explored. We studied the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMNC) of 20 patients with leprosy (10 lepromatous and 10 tuberculoid) and six healthy contacts. We found CS-like activity in the PBMNC from some LL patients when assayed in vitro using lepromin as antigen. This CS-like function was found in CD8+, vicia villosa adherent (VV+) T cells. CS-like activity was not detected in PBMNC from either tuberculoid patients or healthy contacts. Pre-treatment of CD8+, VV+ cells with either recombinant IL-2 (5 u/ml) or recombinant interferon-gamma (1,000 u/ml) did not modify significantly their putative CS function. However, in 50% of lepromatous patients the pre-incubation of CD8+, VV+ cells with both lymphokines together increased significantly the CS-like activity. These data suggest that the in vitro immune response to M. leprae in some LL patients can be augmented by either modifying numerically the contrasuppressor T cells or activating them with lymphokines.</p>  a0009-9104