Twenty young adult atopic patients and their matched controls were studied. Spontaneously generated and Con-A-induced suppressor T cell functions as well as Natural Killer (NK) activity against K-562 target cells, measured in a short-time 3H-thymidine uptake, were evaluated. Suppressor T cell activity in the patients was more than 2 SD lower than that found in the controls and there was, contrary to expectation, a direct correlation between suppressor function and serum IgE levels. Atopic patients showed a statistically significant lower NK activity than normal controls when related to a low IL-2 production. Both facts inversely correlated with the concentration of IgE in serum. We concluded that atopic patients' vulnerability to viral infections may be due to defective NK activity. Suppressor T cell function is abnormal in these patients. Both defects could be due to a faulty immunoregulatory helper function.

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A single 500 mg dose of tinidazole was given to fourteen healthy volunteers. Cellular immune functions were studied, before and 2 and 24 h after drug ingestion. Blast transformation of lymphocytes to Con-A was significantly lower (P less than 0.01) in samples obtained 2 h after ingestion. No significant changes were found in the other immunological parameters studied. We conclude that these findings could be caused by reversible blockage of lectin binding receptors on the lymphocyte surface.

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