Cell mediated immunity in healthy women taking oral contraceptives.

The cell-mediated immune system function was studied both in vitro and in vivo in 20 healthy women who had been taking combined oral contraceptives for an average of 2.8 years. All patients received intradermal injections of a 1/100 dilution of Candida albicans, a 1/100 dilution of mumps skin test antigen, a 1/10 dilution of tetanus toxoid fluid, and a 1/200 dilution of phytohemagglutinin-P. No statistically significant differences were observed in cell-mediated immune response between oral contraceptive users and nonuser control subjects. It is concluded that combined oral contraceptive preparations do not affect the cell-mediated immune system.