Effects of a gold salt on lymphocyte responses.

The effects of sodium aurothiomalate (SATM) on certain lymphocyte functions in vitro were tested. Lymphocytes were obtained from both healthy donors and patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). SATM depressed tritiated thymidine uptake in lymphocyte cultures stimulated by phytohaemagglutinin, and in a mixed lymphocyte response assay. Cytotoxic effector cell generation assayed by percentage specific 51Cr release was also depressed by SATM using lymphocytes from healthy donors, and from patients with RA. These effects imply that SATM inhibits both exogenous thymidine uptake, and blastogenesis, and suggest that gold salts may act in RA by interference with T-cell dependent functions.