Impaired Production of Interferon in Lymphocytes from Immunosuppressed Patients

Abstract

Interferon production induced by Newcastle disease virus was found to be impaired in peripheral lymphocytes from recipients of renal allografts receiving immunosuppressant drugs, corticosteroids, and azathioprine. Factors such as azotemia, active infection with cytomegalovirus, leukopenia, or lymphocyte viability did not play a paramount role in the observed suppression of interferon production. Interferon impairment was not reversed by incubation of patients' lymphocytes in normal human serum, and serum from immunosuppressed patients did not inhibit production of interferon in normal lymphocytes. Thus, the defect appears to be primarily a cellular one. These findings may offer a partial explanation for the enhanced susceptibility to viral infections in patients receiving immunosuppressants after organ transplantation.