Abstract
Chronic generalized lymphadenopathy (CGL) in homosexual men may be a prodrome of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Depressed cell mediated immunity including low T-helper:T-suppressor ratios are commonly detected. To evaluate humoral immune function we immunized 9 CGL patients with pneumococcal polysaccharide (PPS) vaccine and the T-dependent neoantigen bacteriophage ØX 174 (ØX 174). Antibody responses to PPS were abnormal in 7 of 8 patients immunized; baseline antibody titers were absent or low, post immunization titers rose minimally and titers declined rapidly. Three patients had abnormal primary and secondary and five patients had abnormal secondary responses to ØX 174 including failure to switch from IgM to IgG. One patient with a very low primary response to ØX 174 developed pneumocystis carinii pneumonia 5 months later. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) of patients with abnormal antibody responses in vivo showed reduced antigen induced antibody synthesis in vitro. The direct hemolytic plaque assay was abnormal in all patients: 2 had excessive suppression; 1 lacked T help; 5 showed increased antibody synthesis suggesting a state of immune activation which might explain the reported hyperimmunoglobulinemia.
These studies indicate that homosexual males with CGL have both cellular and humoral immune deficiency, predisposing such persons to the opportunistic infections which characterize AIDS.
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Junker, A., Ochs, H., Collier, A. et al. ABNORMAL IMMUNE RESPONSES IN HOMOSEXUAL MEN WITH CHRONIC GENERALIZED LYMPHADENOPATHY. Pediatr Res 18 (Suppl 4), 258 (1984). https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00988
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1203/00006450-198404001-00988