Destruction of muscle cultures by lymphocytes from cases of polymyositis

Summary 80% of cultures of foetal human and rat muscle underwent destruction when incubated with lymphocytes from patients with polymyositis compared with 30% of those incubated with serum from patients with polymyositis and 25% of those incubated with lymphocytes from patients with other neurological disorders. Cultures of dural fibroblasts were also destroyed in the presence of lymphocytes from patients suffering from polymyositis associated with collagen disorders. These effects may be the sequel to a specific sensitization of lymphocytesin vivo and the findings are therefore consistent with a mechanism of cellmediated hypersensitivity underlying polymyositis.The work was aided by grants from the Medical Research Council, the Muscular Dystrophy Association of America, Inc., and the Muscular Dystrophy Group of Great Britain. The author would like to thank Miss Aileen Brown for her advice and technical assistance, his co-workers. Dr. Michael Saunders and Mr. Malcolm Knowles of the M.R.C. Demyelinating Diseases Research Unit, the physicians of the region for allowing him to study their patients and Prof. John N. Walton for his advice and encouragement.