Natural killer cell immunodeficiency in patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia. IV. Interleukin-1 deficiency, gamma-interferon deficiency and the restorative effects of short-term culture in the presence of interleukin-2 on natural killer cytotoxicity, natural killer-target binding and production of natural killer cytotoxic factor

We report herein that defective natural killer (NK) cell cytotoxicity, NK cytotoxic factor (NKCF) production and NK target binding ability of patients with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) are functionally restorable after short-term culture (less than 1 week) with recombinant interleukin-2 (rIL-2). We have previously reported that, despite normal to increased numbers of CD16+ large granular lymphocytes, fluorescence-activated-cell-sorted NK cells from CML patients are profoundly defective in NK cell activity and are unable to lyse the CML blast-crisis-derived, NK-sensitive target K562. Since we and others have also previously shown that the defective NK cytotoxicity from CML patients is restorable after 1-4 weeks of incubation with rIL-2, we therefore deemed it important to study the kinetics of IL-2-mediated NK restoration at earlier time intervals (less than 1 week). In the present report, we have demonstrated a significant restoration of NK cell cytotoxicity in CML patients against K562 after 5 days of short-term culture with rIL-2. In addition, recovery of NKCF production and restoration of target-binding capacity to normal levels by NK cells from CML patients were also observed after short-term (less than 1 week) rIL-2 treatment. Finally, we have demonstrated in the present report that adherent cells and peripheral-blood lymphoid cells from CML patients, as compared to normal controls, are unable to produce IL-1 beta and interferon-gamma, respectively, after stimulation with phorbol myristate acetate (IL-1 beta) and phytohemagglutinin-M (interferon-gamma).