Cell-mediated immunity in patients with cystic fibrosis.

Leucocytes from 26 patients with cystic fibrosis (CF) and 18 healthy controls 
were investigated by migration inhibition induced by a variety of antigens. 
In patients with CF cell-mediated immunity was found to human lung 
and pancreatic tissue extracts as well as to Aspergillus fumigatus, Pseudomonas 
aeruginosa, and food antigens but not to brain, heart, or kidney. 
Those patients with the severest form of the disease had the 
greatest impairment of cell-mediated immunity, but this impairment could be reversed 
by steroid treatment. Cell- mediated cytotoxicity may also be concerned in 
the pathogenesis of CF. 