Abstract
The immune response is known to decrease in chronic renal failure patients. In this study, we estimated the productivity of interleukin-1 (IL-1), which is produced from the accessory cells of the immune system, and studied the dynamics of the immune system in long-term dialysis patients. Since a Limulus-positive substance has been eluted from the cuprophan membrane dialyzer, the effects of various dialyzers and blood purification methods on IL-1 productivity were compared, including hemodialysis using the polymethylmetacrylate (PMMA) membrane dialyzer and continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis (CAPD). Forty-one long-term hemodialysis patients, 5 CAPD patients and 43 healthy subjects were selected for the study. The monocyte cell suspension was prepared from the peripheral blood of these patients. Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) was added, and this was cultured for 48 hours. The culture supernatant was separated and added to thymocytes prepared from C3H/HeJ mice. This was then cultured for 72 hours, and 24 hours before cell harvest, [3H]-thymidine was added. IL-1 productivity of the monocytes was estimated by the incorporation of [3H]-thymidine into the acidinsoluble fraction. As a result, IL-1 productivity was significantly high in the longterm hemodialysis patients on the cuprophan membrane dialyzer When the dialyzer wash solution from the cuprophan membrane dialyzer, which was Limulus-positive, was addec to the monocytes, IL-1 productivity increased. However, when the wash solution from the PMMA membrane dialyzer was added, it did not increase. When inactivated serum from healthy subjects and serum from long-term hemodialysis patients were added to the peripheral blood monocytes from healthy subjects, IL-1 productivity of the former was significantly higher than that of the latter.
The IL-1 productivity of the monocytes has been suggested to decrease in chronic renal failure patients, but we found that it increases in long-term hemodialysis patients on the cuprophan membrane dialyzer. This may be due to the Limulus-positive substance eluted from the cuprophan membrane dialyzer.
