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Blood lymphocyte blastogenesis in patients with thyroid dysfunction: ex vivo response to mitogen activation and cyclosporin A

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Abstract

Objective

To evaluate lymphocyte activation following mitogen and cyclosporin A (CsA) administration in peripheral blood of hyperthyroxinaemic and hypothyroid patients.

Materials and methods

Lymphocyte activation was evaluated by determining blastogenesis in 48 h cultured blood lymphocytes obtained from eight hyperthyroxinaemic and eight hypothyroid patients, following phytohaemagglutinin (PHA)-induced stimulation in the absence or presence of CsA. Twelve healthy volunteers served as controls.

Results and conclusions

Lymphocytes from hypothyroid patients exhibited reduced response to PHA and lower sensitivity to CsA compared with control, which could be attributed to their reduced activation capability coexisting with hypothyroidism. In hyperthyroxinaemic samples, the actions of high CsA concentrations were mostly targeted toward activated lymphoblasts. Considering the cellular targets that thyroid hormones and CsA may share, the therapeutic implications of their cross-talk need careful consideration.

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Acknowledgments

This work was financially supported by the University of Athens.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Pharmacology, Medical School, University of Athens, M. Asias 75, 11527, Athens, Greece

    Garyphallia Papaioannou, Fotios V. Michelis, Konstantinos Papamichael & Ekaterini Tiligada

  2. Second Division of Endocrinology, Alexandra Hospital, Athens, Greece

    Helen Karga

Authors
  1. Garyphallia Papaioannou
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  2. Fotios V. Michelis
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  3. Konstantinos Papamichael
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  4. Helen Karga
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  5. Ekaterini Tiligada
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ekaterini Tiligada.

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Responsible Editor: Graham Wallace.

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Papaioannou, G., Michelis, F.V., Papamichael, K. et al. Blood lymphocyte blastogenesis in patients with thyroid dysfunction: ex vivo response to mitogen activation and cyclosporin A. Inflamm. Res. 60, 265–270 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-010-0264-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00011-010-0264-7

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