Depressed lymphocyte transformation and the role of prostaglandins in atopic dermatitis.

We have shown that peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from patients with atopic dermatitis have a reduced in vitro proliferative responsiveness to concanavalin A when compared with non-atopic controls. Addition of the cyclo-oxygenase inhibitor indomethacin caused a significant enhancement of the mitogen response in the patients, indicating a suppressive effect of cyclooxygenase products. We have further demonstrated increased levels of prostaglandin E2 in the supernatants of the PBMC cultures and increased levels of IgE immune complexes in the sera of the atopic dermatitis patients and therefore hypothesize that IgE immune complexes may cause increased monocyte production of prostaglandins which in turn appears to be responsible for a reduced lymphocyte proliferation.