Abstract
In order to estimate the cellular immunedeficiency in patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD), T cell colony formation and Interleukin-2 (IL-2) productivity were exa-mined using peripheral blood mononuclear cell (PBMC) from 9 patients. The patients were not yet undergoing hemodialysis therapy and their mean 24 hours creatinine clearance was 5.5±1.1 ml/min. Phytohemagglutinin (PHA) was used as mitogen for T cell colony formation in semi-solid culture. PBMC from patients with ESRD and healthy subjects were used for determination of IL-2 productivity. PHA was added to each PBMC, which was then cultured for 24 hours. The culture supernatant fluid was collected and added to IL-2 dependent cell obtained from T cell of healthy subject. After a 24-hour culture, 3H-thymidine was added for harvest 24 hours later. A decrease in peripheral blood lymphocytes was observed in the patients with ESRD. The T cell colony formation of the patients showed an evident decrease with that of healthy subjects (p<0.001). Addition of serum from the patients suppressed T cell colony formation in healthy subjects. IL-2 productivity in the patients was markedly lower than in healthy subjects (p<0.001). These results suggested that T cell function is impaired in patients with ESRD and that uremic serum has an effect on cellular immune response.
