Triiodothyronine stimulates growth of peripheral blood mononuclear cells in serum-free cultures in uremic patients

Recovery of age-dependent immunological deterioration in old mice by thyroxine treatment

On the basis that multiple interactions exist between thyroid hormones and immune system, and ageing is accompanied by changes in thyroid hormone secretion, it seems possible that thyroid hormones may be involved in the age-related immune dysfunction. The present study was conducted to evaluate in vivo and in vitro effects of thyroxine (T(4)) treatment on both cell-mediated and humoral immune responses of aged mice. In a trial to improve age-associated immune dysfunction, T(4) (0.2, 1.0 and 5.0 microg) was subcutaneously supplemented to BALB/c mice (over 18 months old) for 30 consecutive days. The present results showed that exogenous treatment of aged mice with T(4) was associated with a marked increase in serum T(4) level, and the total number of peripheral blood leukocytes as well as the total cellularity of thymus, spleen, peripheral lymph nodes (PLNs), mesenteric lymph nodes (MLNs) and bone marrow (BM). T(4) treatment also caused a significant increase in the total and differential numbers of peritoneal exudate cells (PECs), while it caused a slight increase in macrophages' phagocytic activity of PEC. Moreover, T(4) treatment elicited a statistically significant increase in both plaque-forming cell and rosette-forming cell responses. In vitro results showed that the addition of T(4) at concentrations of 0.001, 0.005 and 0.025 microg/well substantially potentiated the ability of splenocytes from aged mice to proliferate in the presence of concanavalin-A mitogen. Histological examination of thymuses from T(4)-treated aged mice revealed that the cortex was preferentially enlarged and repopulated with immature thymocytes. The present study postulates that thyroid hormones may be involved in the observed decrease in the immune responsiveness during ageing, and that T(4) treatment to aged mice is able to restore the age-related decline of the immune efficiency.

Impaired endotoxin-induced interleukin-1 beta secretion, not total production, of mononuclear cells from ESRD patients

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced interleukin-1 beta (IL-1 beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF alpha) production and secretion from peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) were determined in a longitudinal study with repeated measurements in PBMC from patients with chronic uremia not on hemodialysis (N = 8), end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients (N = 8), and healthy controls (N = 7). ESRD patients were studied while using low-flux Cuprophan dialyzers and again using high-flux AN 69 dialyzers. Total (cell-associated plus secreted) LPS-induced IL-1 beta production was enhanced in uremic patients, but similar to controls in ESRD patients on Cuprophan. In contrast, LPS-induced IL-1 beta secretion (secreted amounts in % of total production) was similar to controls in uremic patients, but significantly reduced in ESRD patients on Cuprophan (P < 0.01). During AN 69 hemodialysis, LPS-induced total IL-1 beta production remained unchanged but IL-1 beta secretion increased significantly (P < 0.05) compared to Cuprophan dialysis. Increased IL-1 beta secretion coincided with a suppression in PGE2 synthesis (P < 0.02). Similarly, blockade of endogenous PGE2 by indomethacin increased LPS-induced IL-1 beta secretion (P < 0.01) but did not enhance total IL-1 beta production in PBMC from controls and patients on Cuprophan hemodialysis. Neither total production nor secretion of TNF alpha was different comparing the three study groups. We conclude that LPS-induced IL-1 beta secretion, but not total production, is impaired in PBMC from ESRD patients on long-term Cuprophan hemodialysis. This functional change in the PBMC response is specific for IL-1 beta, not due to uremia per se but hemodialysis-dependent and reversible. Hemodialysis with AN 69 suppresses endogenous PGE2 synthesis in PBMC which is associated with increased LPS-induced IL-1 beta secretion in the presence of unchanged total IL-1 beta production. We speculate that PGE2 could inactivate the IL-1 beta converting enzyme which is essential for processing and secretion of mature IL-1 beta.