Effect of cimetidine on peripheral blood lymphocytes from chronic uremic patients : improvement of burst-promoting activity

We have studied the in vitro effect of cimetidine, an inhibitor of suppressor T lymphocytes, on T lymphocytes of 6 uremic subjects and on normal T lymphocytes preincubated with the serum from the same patients. Cimetidine has been shown to increase the burst-promoting activity (BPA) of uremic T lymphocytes and to partially improve the BPA of normal T lymphocytes preincubated with uremic serum. The present study shows that suppressor T lymphocytes are not affected by uremic inhibitors and that chronic uremia, besides inducing a decrease in the number of helper T lymphocytes, impairs their ability to stimulate the BFU-E in vitro growth.