Enhancement of human lymphocyte natural killer activity by somatostatin.

The effect of somatostatin 1-14 (SS) on the natural killer (NK) activity of human peripheral blood lymphocytes was investigated. The NK activity was estimated by means of radioactive chromium (51Cr) assay with the use of human leukemia cells K 562 as targets. The previous exposure of lymphocytes obtained from healthy donors to somatostatin in the concentration of 10(-8) and 10(-6) M resulted in the enhancement of NK activity. The finding provides a further evidence of the immunomodulating somatostatin action.