Abstract
The responses to IFN-γ of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) in hemodialysis (HD) patients were studied as an index for cellular activity in the cultured supernatant and intracellular β2-microglobulin (β2-m) amount, and the following results were obtained.
1) The amount of spontaneous β2-m production in tne cultured supernatant of PBMC was observed not to have any difference between healthy individuals and HD patients.
2) After incubating for 96 hours adding 100 JRU/ml of IFN-γ, it was noted that β2-m amount in the supernatant in HD patient group with more than 60mg/l of serum β2-m level was significantly lower compared with healthy individuals.
3) The percent increase of cellular β2-m in HD patients also showed a tendency to be lower.
4) In order to evaluate the influence of β2-m on the decrease of production capability of β2-m, influence on β2-m production of PBMC was examined by testing PBMC preincubated for 2 hours with concentrations of 20mg/l and 100mg/l of purified β2-m. However, no influence was noted.
5) Levels of IL-1 β and IL-2 in the cultured supernatant were measured by using RIA and ELISA methods respectively, these were not detectable using these methods.
From the avove-mentioned results, decrease of the response of PBMC to IFN-γ was noted in HD patients with more than 60mg/l of semm β2-m amount, and suppression of host defence mechanisms was suggested.
