Inhibitory effect of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) on the porcine lymphocyte response to mitogens and reversal of the effect with metal ions.

The effect of ethylenediaminetetraacetate (EDTA) on the mitogen response of porcine lymphocytes and the role of metal ions in reversal of the inhibitory effect of EDTA were determined. Porcine lymphocyte responses to mitogens were totally suppressed when serum used to supplement Ca(2+), Mg(2+)-free minimum essential medium (MEM) was dialyzed against saline or saline with 0.2 or 0.60 mM EDTA, but the responses were only partially reduced when the same serum was added to RPMI-1640 medium. The inhibition observed in MEM could be reversed by adding 1×10(-3) M Ca(2+) and 1×10(-3) M Mg(2+) to the dialyzed serum. Serum treated directly with 0.60 mM EDTA completely suppressed blastogenesis in lymphocyte cultures maintained in RPMI-1640 or Ca(2+), Mg(2+) free MEM. The inhibitory effect of EDTA-treated serum could be completely reversed by adding Zn(2+) or a combination of Zn(2+) with other cationic ions, or partially reversed by adding Ni(2+) or Fe(3+). Zn(2+) was the most effective ion, in that it was the only ion that, when alone added to the serum, could completely restore lymphocyte responses to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) or pokeweed mitogen (PWM).