The immunoregulatory nature of iron. I. Lymphocyte proliferation.

An increasing body of evidence suggests that iron may regulate certain immune functions in vitro. Its effects on proliferative responses of human peripheral blood mononuclear lymphocytes (PBM) to various mitogens was therefore investigated. The results showed that it enhanced such responses to pokeweed mitogen (PWM) but suppressed those to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and to concanavalin A (Con A). Furthermore, the enhancement was mediated by T rather than B cells. In conclusion, those results provide further evidence for the hypothesis that iron has certain immunoregulatory properties in vitro.