A correlation of in vivo delayed-type hypersensitivity with in vitro lymphocyte transformation in sarccidosis.

Induction of in vivo dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) sensitization has been corre lated with in vitro cultured lymphocyte transformation in 21 patients with histologically confirmed sarcoidosis and 21 matched control subjects. Failure to sensitize with DNCB was noted in 71 percent of patients with sarcoidosis and in 14 percent of controls. Poor lymphocyte transformation occurred in 90 percent of patients with sarcoidosis and in only one of control subjects. The twin defects were a feature of 71 percent of patients with sarcoidosis, indicating that the in vivo cutaneous anergy reflects the vitro cellular hyporeactivity, probably due to immunologically incompetent lymphocytes.