Relationship between antibody productivity by activated human lymph node lymphocytes from lung cancer patients and lymphocyte subsets

Regional lymph node lymphocytes from five patients with primary lung cancer were analyzed for subset composition, and exposed in vitro to the polyclonal human B cell mitogen Staphylococcus aureus Cowan I (SACI) or the murine B cell mitogen lipopolysaccharide (LPS) and then fused with mouse myeloma cells for investigation at the clonal level of their antibody (Ab) production and its statistical relation to the original subset composition. No correlation was found between the proportion of CD19+, CD23+, or CD3+ cells in the lymphocyte sample prior to its exposure to either SACI or LPS, and the Ab production efficiency, defined as the ratio of the number of Ab producing wells to the total number of proliferating wells. For lymphocytes exposed to LPS, however, a strong correlation (r = 0.931, p = 0.02) was observed between the Ab production efficiency and the ratio of CD8+ to CD3+ cells (CD8/CD3) in the original sample at least within the ranges studied (CD8/CD3 = 0.216–0.288). For those exposed to SACI, no correlation was found between the Ab production efficiency and the CD8/CD3 ratio (r = 0.881, p = 0.12) or the proportion of CD8+ cells (r = 0.808, p = 0.19) in the original sample. These results suggest that the repertoire of B cells responsive to LPS is different at least in part from the repertoire responsive to SACI and that the ratio CD8/CD3 could serve as a practical predictor for Ab production by human lymphocytes stimulated with LPS. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.