Lymphocyte transformation in response to phytohaemagglutinin in primary biliary cirrhosis: the search for a plasma inhibitory factor.

The aim of this study was to determine the importance of plasma inhibitory factors in producing the impaired phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-induced lymphocyte transformation that is seen in some patients with primary biliary cirrhosis. Twenty-six normal subjects and 12 patients with primary biliary cirrhosis were studied. The lymphocytes from each subject were cultured in the presence of autologous plasma and also in the presence of homologous plasma from a normal subject or from a patient with primary biliary cirrhosis. The results confirm that a proportion of patients with primary biliary cirrhosis are anergic and that the impaired lymphocyte transformation to PHA in vitro can be partially accounted for by the presence of inhibitory factors in the plasma. However, these factors are unlikely to account completely for the impaired transformation, it being probable that there are also abnormalities of the T lymphocytes themselves.