Effect of colchicine on T cell subsets of healthy volunteers

We examined the effect of oral colchicine (1-2 mg/day) on four healthy volunteers' T cell subsets. Colchicine significantly (P < 0.01) decreased the mean (±SD) percent of OKT3⁺ total T cells (from 70 ± 16 to 47 ± 13), OKT4⁺ helper/inducer T cells (from 44 ± 9 to 24 ± 6), and OKT8⁺ suppressor/cytotoxic T cells (from 27 ± 7 to 17 ± 7), but did not significantly affect the OKT4;OKT8 ratio (from 1.64 ± 0.21 to 1.48 ± 0.45) or concanavalin A-induced suppressor cell function (from 44 ± 9% to 47 ± 13%). Thus, colchicine non-selectively decreased the circulating helper/inducer and suppressor/cytotoxic T cells.