SUPPRESSED CELL-MEDIATED IMMUNITY IN TWO ADULTS WITH ATOPIC DERMATITIS

Summary.— Tests of immune function over a 12-month period in a young woman and a young man with life-long atopic dermatitis showed depressed cell-mediated immunity (CMI) (delayed-type skin test unresponsiveness, inability to be sensitized to DNCB, diminished responsiveness of cultured lymphocytes to phytohaemagglutinin, enlarged subcutaneous lymph nodes without any cell-mediated immunopathology, but with the structure of a node involved in humoral antibody production). Direct immunofluorescence localized IgE in the germinal centres of these subcutaneous lymph nodes. No anti-immunoglobulin or anti-C₃ complement fluorescent conjugates were localized in their involved or uninvolved skin. Cells corresponding to small-and medium-sized lymphocytes in concentrated peripheral leucocyte smears stained with FITC antiserum to human IgE. The woman's lymphocyte transformation suppression improved during a remission and relapsed during an exacerbation of the dermatitis.