Production of interferon and lymphoproliferative response in whole blood cultures derived from patients with atopic dermatitis.

Enhanced susceptibility to viral infections has been reported repeatedly in atopic dermatitis (AD). A difference in the capacity to produce interferons (IFN) in response to viral antigens may be the cause. In the present study we investigated the in vitro IFN production of leukocytes from AD patients in response to different stimuli. Furthermore, the lymphoproliferative responses were tested. The patients showed moderate to severe disease activity. Whole blood cultures of 25 AD patients and 21 healthy nonatopic controls were stimulated with the mitogens phytohemagglutinin (PHA), concanavalin A (ConA), and pokeweed mitogen (PWM), with tuberculin derivative (PPD) and tetanus antigen as IFN-gamma inducers, and with C. parvum, poly I-poly C, and herpes simplex virus (HSV) as inducers of IFN-a. Lymphoproliferation was assayed in 5-day cultures in parallel. In AD no significant difference of the IFN production was found in comparison with the controls with any stimuli tested. The lymphoproliferative response of leukocytes of patients with AD was significantly decreased upon stimulation with PHA, Con A, PWM, and PPD. We suggest that in AD the described susceptibility to viral infections is not due to an altered capability of leukocytes to generate IFN.