Studies of immune functions of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus: antibodies to desialized, rather than intact, T cells preferentially bind to and eliminate suppressor effector T cells.

Patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) were found to have in their plasma antibodies specific for desialized T cells. Adsorption studies with intact or desialized T cells indicated that SLE anti-T cell antibodies consisted of two populations with different target cell specificities, one capable of recognizing unique determinants on desialized T cells and another able to bind to both intact and desialized T cells. Normal T cells did not remove the antibodies specific for desialized T cells. moreover, the antibodies to desialized T cells were not removed by adsorption with either desialized non-T cells or desialized erythrocytes. Thus, the antibodies to desialized T cells recognize a determinant that is unique to a T cell subset and also includes a sugar. Inhibition studies with various sugars indicated that lactose was the most potent inhibitor of antibody binding. The anti-desialized T cell antibody appears to recognize a T cell determinant which includes lactose, probably in the form of a beta-galactosyl residue, but which also includes additional T cell determinants. The antibodies to desialized T cells were found to bind preferentially to concanavalin A-induced autorosetting T cells, which had been already demonstrated to contain suppressor effector cells. Indeed, such antibodies were effective in eliminating suppressor effector function without interfering with T cells necessary for such activation (such as precursor or inducer cells). Finally, studies of patients with SLE yielded a highly significant correlation (r = 0.92) between impaired suppressor effector function of their cells and the presence of antibodies to desialized T cells in their plasma.