Production of interleukin 2 by human lymph nodes.

Perigastric lymph node cells (LNC) from patients with gastric carcinoma or benign lesions were tested for interleukin 2 (IL 2) production upon stimulation with phytohemagglutinin (PHA), in comparison with that of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) or spleen cells (SPC). IL 2 activity in the supernatants of LNC cultures from patients with either carcinoma or benign lesions was significantly higher than that of PBM cultures from the same person. There was no significant difference in IL 2 activity between PBM cultures or LNC cultures from patients with carcinoma and patients with benign lesions. Supernatants from LNC cultures were also more active than those obtained from SPC cultures. The production of interleukin 1 (IL 1) in LNC was lower than that in PBM. In LNC, the proportion of OKT3+ cells was similar to that found in PBM, with a prevalence of OKT4+ cells over OKT8+ cells. No differences were found between lymphatic cells from patients with carcinoma and from patients having benign lesions.