T Cell Activation in Typhoid Fever Detected by Increased Levels of Adenosine Deaminase

Abstract

The demonstration of an inherited adenosine deaminase (ADA) deficiency in patients with combined immunodeficiency (Giblett et al., 1972) suggests a causal association between lymphocyte ADA levels and immune function. ADA activity is greatly increased in in vitro stimulated lymphocytes (Hovi et al., 1976) and in peripheral mononuclear cells from subjects developing an active immune response (Galanti et al., 1981). Recent data indicate that mechanisms of cell-mediated immunity play the major role in recovery from typhoid fever (Rajagopalan et al., 1982). The aim of this study is to assess the value of lymphocyte ADA assay in detecting T cell activation during typhoid fever.