ADCC (Antibody-Dependent Cell-Mediated Cytotoxicity) Activity in Adult T-cell Leukemia

Abstract

Activity of antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity (ADCC) of peripheral blood leukocytes in a patient with adult T-cell leukemia was examined by ⁵¹Cr release assay using sheep erythrocytes as target cells.
ADCC activity of crude lymphocyte fraction (CLF) (36.4±9.4%) obtained from adult T-cell leukemia was statistically (p<0.05) lower than those of healthy controls (51.1±10.9%). It was proved that ADCC activity of CLF of this patient was mediated by phagocytes (monocytes and granulocytes), and then leukemic T-cells had no cytotoxic ability, because ADCC activity was eliminated by the treatment of CLF with carbonyl-iron and nylon-wool column, and ADCC activity of E rosette forming cell rich fraction separated from CLF was not detected. Additionaly decrease of lymphocytic K cells and its functional abnormalities in a patient with adult T-cell leukemia was suggest.