Indomethacin enhances the proliferation of mitogen-stimulated T lymphocytes of homosexual males with persistent generalized lymphadenopathy

Abstract

The possibility that cyclooxygenase products of arachidonic acid might contribute to the defective T lymphocyte function of homosexual men with the reactive lymph node syndrome was examinedin vitro. T lymphocyte proliferation, assessed by the uptake of [³H]thymidine after the addition of phytohemagglutin, was 72,870±66,816 counts per minute (mean±SD) for eight patients and 119,589 ± 64,913 counts per minute for 30 controls (P<0.05, Student'st test). Treatment with the cyclooxygenase inhibitor indomethacin increased the phytohemagglutin-induced proliferation of the T lymphocytes from five of eight patients, but none of 12 healthy homosexual and heterosexual control subjects. The production of prostaglandin E₂ by T lymphocytes from six patients was 16.1±10.5 pg/5×10⁶ cells/hr, as contrasted with that of 4.9±1.3 and 4.3±2.1 pg/5×10⁶ cells for four healthy homosexual and six healthy heterosexual control subjects, respectively (P<0.01, Student'st test). The production of prostaglandin E₂ by the patients' monocytes was normal. Abnormalities of the cyclooxygenase pathway of T lymphocytes of patients with the reactive lymph node syndrome may reflect an immuno-regulatory defect, which predisposes to infections and may evolve into the more severe abnormalities of the acquired immune deficiency syndrome.