The effects of selected drugs, including chlorpromazine and non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents, on polyclonal IgG synthesis and interleukin 1 production by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells in vitro.

We tested a range of drugs for their effects on in vitro polyclonal IgG synthesis by human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) stimulated with the lectin pokeweed mitogen (PWM). The test drugs were selected on the basis of reported disruptive effects on immune function in vivo. IgG production between day 4 and days 7 or 8 of culture was measured by biotin-streptavidin sandwich ELISA. The anti-psychotic agent chlorpromazine (0.55-1.7 microM) enhanced IgG synthesis to approximately double control levels. In contrast, the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) indomethacin, piroxicam, ibuprofen and aspirin inhibited IgG synthesis by up to 50%, with a rank order of potency that reflects their activity as inhibitors of cyclo-oxygenase. Phenytoin, procainamide, propylthiouracil, methimazole, D-penicillamine and D-penicillamine-L-cysteine all failed to modulate IgG synthesis at non-toxic concentrations. The potentiation and inhibition of IgG synthesis by chlorpromazine and indomethacin, respectively, was observed only when the drug was present during the first 24 h of culture. Neither chlorpromazine nor indomethacin, at non-toxic concentrations, affected PHA- and PWM-stimulated proliferation of PBMC. In addition, chlorpromazine, indomethacin and piroxicam, at concentrations which produced maximal modulation of IgG synthesis, and D-penicillamine and D-penicillamine-L-cysteine at 10 microM failed to influence production of interleukin-1-like activity. We conclude that chlorpromazine and NSAIDs, although they exert opposite effects on IgG synthesis, act at an early stage of B cell differentiation that appears to be independent of interleukin 1 synthesis and early proliferative events.