Appearance of the sheep red blood cell receptor on burn T-lymphocytes after cold incubation in fetal calf serum—a possible prognostic test

Abstract

In patients sustaining thermal injury, a longitudinal study was designed to evaluate total T-cells and a subpopulation of active T-cells (T 1hr). Additionally, the in vitro effect of overnight incubation at 4°C on the active T 1-cells was studied. The preliminary observations were: (1)Within 10 days of thermal injury, a marked depression of total T-cell number occurred which was paralleled with depression in T 1-cell number; (2) on follow up, although the total T-cell number showed an increase, it did not reveal any significant alteration in survivors and non survivors. In survivors, there was a gradual return of T 1-lymphocyte number to the normal range. Overnight incubation of T 1-cells in 10 per cent fetal calf serum at 4°C demonstrated a remarkable increase in survivors only. This observation suggests that incubation of cells at 4°C for 24 hours may help to modify the cell membrane resulting in an increased receptor affinity for sheep red blood cells. Though the exact mechanism remains obscure the above observation might contain some prognostic significance.