Antigen-specific proliferation responses of peripheral blood lymphocytes to Trichomonas vaginalis antigen in patients with Trichomonas vaginitis.

This report describes the development of an assay system which overcomes the difficulty of detecting immune responses of patients with Trichomonas vaginitis by making use of peripheral blood leukocytes obtained from such patients. When peripheral blood leukocytes from the patient were stimulated in microcultures with the soluble antigen extracted from Trichomonas vaginalis, significant degrees of proliferation ensued, as measured by the incorporation of [methyl-3H]thymidine 4 to 5 days after initiation. The antigen-induced proliferation response of peripheral blood leukocytes is specific for T. vaginalis antigen. The T. vaginalis-specific [methyl-3H]thymidine incorporation is mediated by Leu-1-positive cells, namely, T lymphocytes, in the peripheral blood leukocyte population. This assay system should prove useful for the analysis of the immune response to the protozoa in patients with Trichomonas vaginitis.