A 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 receptor macromolecule was detected in peripheral mononuclear leukocytes from normal humans. This macromolecule was found to be present in monocytes but absent from normal resting peripheral B and T lymphocytes. However, it was present in established lines of malignant B, T, and non-B, non-T human lymphocytes, as well as in T and B lymphocytes obtained from normal humans and activated in vitro.
The hormonal form of vitamin D3, 1,25-dihydroxyvitamin D3 [1,25(OH)2D3], at picomolar concentrations, inhibited the growth-promoting lymphokine interleukin-2, which is produced by human T lymphocytes activated in vitro by the mitogen phytohemagglutinin. Other metabolites of vitamin D3 were less effective than 1,25(OH)2D3 in suppressing interleukin-2; their order of potency corresponded to their respective affinity for the 1,25(OH)2D3 receptor, suggesting that the effect on interleukin-2 was mediated by this specific receptor. The proliferation of mitogen-activated lymphocytes was also inhibited by 1,25(OH)2D3. This effect of the hormone became more pronounced at later stages of the culture. These findings demonstrate that 1,25(OH)2D3 is an immunoregulatory hormone.
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