Defective in vitro antibody production to Varicella zoster and other virus antigens in patients with Hodgkin's disease.

Cultures of blood mononuclear cells stimulated with Varicella zoster antigen (VZA) produced specific anti-VZA antibody in 20 of 27 normal adults but only 10 of 47 patients with treated Hodgkin's disease. Serum anti-VZA antibody levels were the same in normals and patients. The deficiency of in vitro production was found in patients who had been off treatment for 6 or more years and was not related to splenectomy. Each of 11 untreated patients had absent in vitro production from blood cells but spleen cultures produced antibody readily. Using combinations of autologous spleen and blood cells, the defect was attributable to the blood B cells. Defective production was also found in response to influenza viruses and herpes simplex. We suggest that an abnormality in B cell circulation with localization of antibody producing B cells in spleen and lymph nodes, is a feature of treated and untreated Hodgkin's disease.