Patients with diseases associated with defects in cellular immunity, such as the
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome, characteristically have severe
recurrent infections and usually succumb to overwhelming
infection at an early age. This communication describes a patient with this syndrome, defective
delayed hypersensitivity by skin tests and by in vitro lymphocyte response, who was treated with
dialysate of peripheral blood leukocytes (
transfer factor).
After treatment, the clinical status of the patient improved dramatically, concomitant with the development of
delayed hypersensitivity to
antigens to which the donor was sensitive. In vitro tests after transfer indicated that the patient's lymphocytes, when stimulated by specific
antigen, produced migration inhibitory factor without concomitant
DNA synthesis. These observations dissociate skin test sensitivity and activity of migration inhibitory factor from in vitro blastogenesis. Further, the response to
phytohemagglutinin remained diminished before and after
therapy. While these findings represent only an individual case, the climical results suggest that investigation of the use of
transfer factor appears warranted in the
therapy of
Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and other genetically-determined diseases associated with impaired cellular immunity.