Abstract
Dendritic cells (DC) act as accessory cells (AC) in suboptimal concanavalin A (Con A) response. We studied peripheral blood DC function in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). DC of RA patients have dendritic appearance and are positive for HLA-DR antigen and C3 bi receptor. Suboptimal Con A response of RA patients was significantly depressed compared with that of normal subjects (p<0.01). In allogeneic reconstitution experiments, T cells from RA patients were not impaired in Con A response. On the other hand, DC from RA patients functioned abnormally as AC. Thus RA DC dysfunction as AC was shown in suboptimal Con A response.
