Proliferative responses to PHA, anti-CD3 and antigens in patients with lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes. Mannoproteins of Candida albicans induce proliferation and cytotoxicity

In this paper we investigated the lymphoproliferative and cytotoxic responses of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) of patients affected with lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes of T cell origin to mitogens and antigens. Most patients with lymphoproliferative disease of granular lymphocytes (LDGL) showed a severely impaired PBMC proliferative capacity in response to phytohemagglutinin, anti-CD3 and tetanus toxoid, an impairment that, in the case of anti-CD3 response, appears to be related to a defect of phosphorylation in response to triggering. In contrast, at least 50% of the patients had normal proliferation in response to a mannoprotein fraction purified from Candida albicans. These data suggest that some CD3+ GL from LDGL patients, that usually respond poorly to proliferative stimuli in vitro, can be triggered to perform these functions by candidal antigens.