Identification and frequency of circulating CD4+ T lymphocytes specific to Benzylpenicillin in healthy donors. Issue 7 (10th June 2013)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nhim, C.; Delluc, S.; Halgand, F.; de, L.; Weaver, R. J.; Claude, N.; Joseph, D.; Maillère, B.; Pallardy, M.
• Is Part Of: Allergy. Volume 68:Issue 7(2013:Jul.)
• Page Start: 899
• Page End: 905
• Publication Date: 2013-06-10
• Subjects: Allergy -- Periodicals; 616.97
• DOI: 10.1111/all.12173
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0105-4538

Abstract

<abstract abstract-type="main" id="all12173-abs-0001"> <title>Abstract</title> <sec id="all12173-sec-0001" sec-type="section"> <title>Background</title> <p>Drug hypersensitivity is known to rely on a drug‐specific T‐cell response. Amplitude of antigen‐specific T‐cell response is partly controlled by the size of the antigen‐specific naïve CD4<sup>+</sup> T‐cell repertoire, but estimate of this repertoire has never been investigated for allergenic drugs. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the frequency of benzylpenicillin‐specific CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes in healthy donors.</p> </sec> <sec id="all12173-sec-0002" sec-type="section"> <title>Methods</title> <p>Co‐cultures were established with CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes from healthy donors and mature autologous dendritic cells loaded with benzylpenicillin coupled to human serum albumin. CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes were stimulated once a week for 4 weeks with benzylpenicillin coupled to human serum albumin. The CD4<sup>+</sup> T‐cell response was measured using an interferon‐γ ELISPOT assay. Frequency of benzylpenicillin‐specific naive CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes was then calculated using the Poisson distribution law.</p> </sec> <sec id="all12173-sec-0003" sec-type="section"> <title>Results</title> <p>Results showed the presence of benzylpenicillin‐specific CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes in 9 of 10 tested healthy donors irrespective of their HLA typing, with a mean frequency of 0.29 cells per million of CD4<sup>+</sup> T cells. Experiments performed on naive (CD45RA<sup>+</sup>) and on memory (CD45RO<sup>+</sup>) CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes showed that these benzylpenicillin‐specific CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes belonged to the naive T‐cell subpopulation.</p> </sec> <sec id="all12173-sec-0004" sec-type="section"> <title>Conclusion</title> <p>This study showed for the first time the existence of naive CD4<sup>+</sup> T lymphocytes specific to benzylpenicillin in healthy donors.</p> </sec> </abstract>