Impaired tumoricidal function of alveolar macrophages from patients with non-small cell lung cancer

Article Abstract:

Numerous studies have indicated that many cancer patients have impaired immune responses. Furthermore, this impaired immune function appears to be associated with poor patient outcome. In many cases, studies are conducted on immune system cells obtained from blood specimens from patients and volunteers. However, there is considerable evidence that the immune cells circulating in the blood may not be representative of the immune cells that are present in the tumor or in other locations of the body. For this reason, a study was conducted to compare the function of macrophages from the peripheral blood with those present in the lungs, the alveolar macrophages. Macrophages are large cells phagocytic cell capable of ingesting foreign material. However, the function of macrophages is not limited to destroying offending cells and debris; the macrophages also play an important role in mediating the immune response and the secretion of substances such as tumor necrosis factor (TNF) and interleukin-1 (IL-1). In the present study, macrophage function was evaluated in 12 patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Results were compared with those from 14 patients with lung diseases that were not malignant in nature. Laboratory evaluation revealed that the alveolar macrophages from lung cancer patients were consistently worse than the peripheral blood macrophages in mounting an immune response against tumor cells. Among the test patients without lung cancer, both peripheral blood and alveolar macrophages were superior to the alveolar macrophages from the cancer patients in mounting the antitumor response. The alveolar macrophages were actually found to secrete increased amounts of both tumor necrosis factor and interleukin-1, despite their overall impairment in killing tumor cells. These observations reveal a distinction between the alveolar and peripheral blood macrophages in patients with lung cancer, as well as a defective pattern of tumor cell killing in the alveolar macrophages from these patients. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Lung cancer, Non-small cell, Non-small cell lung cancer

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Insulitis in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus in man - macrophages, lymphocytes and interferon-gamma containing cells

Article Abstract:

Lymphocytes and macrophages are types of white blood cells involved in the immune response. These cells can infiltrate into the pancreas due to insulitis, an inflammatory lesion in type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes mellitus. Type 1 diabetes mellitus is thought to be an autoimmune disease (in which the body mounts an immune reaction to normal components of the body). The numbers of lymphocytes and macrophages in the pancreatic tissue of 12 individuals who died from type 1 diabetes mellitus were examined. There were approximately 10 times more lymphocytes than macrophages in the specimens. Studies in animal models have shown that macrophages play a critical role in the development of diabetes. The macrophages infiltrate the pancreas first, followed by T lymphocyte and then B lymphocyte infiltration. The B lymphocytes, which contain insulin, are eventually killed. Because large amounts of macrophages were not found in the pancreatic tissue of individuals with type 1 diabetes mellitus, it is possible that another mechanism is involved in the disease process in humans. Approximately 40 percent of the lymphocytes found in the pancreatic specimens contained the cytokine (cellular factor) interferon-gamma. Interferon-gamma can induce histocompatibility proteins (MHC antigens) that are involved in both the immune response and autoimmune diseases. Interferon-gamma has been thought to be involved in the disease process of type 1 diabetes; it may be involved in the pathology of this disease in man. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Type 1 diabetes, Interferon, Lymphocytes

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