Serum from patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) inhibits T-cell colony formation.

This study compared T-cell colony formation in soft agar of lymphocytes from the peripheral blood and lymph nodes of patients with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) with T-cell colony formation of peripheral blood lymphocytes from normal individuals. Mononuclear cells were separated from other blood and lymph node elements on density gradient columns, phenotyped for T- and B-cell antigens using monoclonal antibodies, and then plated in soft agar cultures. Lymphocytes from peripheral blood and lymph nodes of patients with NHL exhibited less T-cell colony formation (p less than 0.01) than did lymphocytes from normal individuals. This decrease in T-cell colony formation was not the result of the number of T cells or null cells plated, or differences in proportions of T helper and T suppressor cells. However, when sera from patients with NHL were incubated with normal lymphocytes before plating in soft agar, a decrease in number of T-cell colonies was observed (p less than 0.01). We conclude that peripheral blood and lymph node mononuclear cells from patients with NHL have a decreased ability to form T-cell colonies in soft agar cultures and that this decrease is related, at least in part, to the presence of serum factor(s).