Percentage Of OKT8 Research Articles

STUDY OF T-LYMPHOCYTE SUBSETS AND INTERLEUKIN-2 IN GASTRIC CANCER

Peripheral blood, regional lymphnode and spleen lymphocytes were measured by using different monoclonal antibodies and flow cytometry in 20 patients with gastric cancer. The patients were divided in two groups, patients with stage I and II disease and patients with stage III and IV disease, according to the General Rules for Gastric Cancer Study, Japanese Research Society for Gastric Cancer. Such parameters as OKT3, OKT4, OKT8, OKM1, OKT4+ 2H4+, OKT4 + 2H4-, OKT8 + Leu15+ and OKT8 + Leu15- were used as monoclonal antibodies. NK activity, interleukin-2 production and interleukin-2 receptors were also measured.In peripheral blood lymphocytes, IL-2 production was significantly lower in the stage III and IV group, than in the stage I and II group. The percentages of OKT4, OKT4 + 2H4- and the OKT4/OKT8 ratio were lower in stage III and IV group than in stage I and II group. Among the regional lymphnodes in the stage I and II group, the percentages of OKT4 + 2H4- and the OKT4/OKT8 ratio were higher in proximal lymphnodes than in distal nodes. In stage III and IV group, the percentages of OKT3, OKT8 and OKT8 + Leu15- were lower and the OKT4/OKT8 ratio was higher in proximal lymphnodes than in distal nodes. These results suggest that helper T-cell activity in peripheral blood and the induction of killer T cells in regional lymphnodes decrease as gastric cancer progresses.

Benefits of OKG supplementation

A group of 30 burn patients with 36–87% total body surface area (TBSA) burns was studied at 24–48 hr postburn. These included studies of (1) autologous and allogeneic mixed-lymphocyte reactions (MLR); (2) the immunoregulatory influence of mitomycin C-treated T cells, non-T cells, and unfractionated peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) on allogeneic MLR; and (3) correlation between the proportions of T-cell subsets defined with monoclonal antibodies (OKT4 and OKT8) and autologous MLR. Studies concerning adherent cell production of thromboxane, prostaglandin E2, and prostaglandin F2a and the immunomodulatory effects of Interleukin 1 (IL-1), Interleukin 2 (IL-2), and a prostaglandin inhibitor, WY-18251, on autologous MLR are presented. The autologous mixed-lymphocyte reaction was depressed in 60% of the burn patients tested. This depressed response correlated closely to the extent of third-degree injury (P < 0.025) and to TBSA injury >60% (P < 0.025). A linear correlation was observed between the depression in autologous MLR and a decrease in both the percentage of OKT4+ T cells and the OKT4+OKT8+ ratio. The response of T cells from burn patients in allogeneic MLR was normal. Age, sex, TBSA of the burn, and size of second-degree burn did not correlate with the abnormalities observed in MLR. Mitomycin C-treated mononuclear cells, purified T cells, or non-T cells from burned patients did not demonstrate any suppressive influence on MLR in normals. Monocyte number and arachidonic acid metabolism were investigated. In addition to increased numbers of monocytes following thermal injury, adherent cells produced increased quantities of thromboxane, prostaglandin E2, and prostaglandin F2a. The effects of Interleukin 1, Interleukin 2, and a prostaglandin inhibitor, WY-18251, were studied in autologous MLR (AMLR) of burned and normal patients. Interleukin 1 and WY-18251 did not induce any significant changes in proliferation in burned patients or normal controls. When compared to cultures without exogenous IL-2, an increase in AMLR was observed following the addition of IL-2 to burn patient cultures at Day 6 and Day 7 of culture. Although the addition of IL-2 did increase proliferation in AMLR of normal controls at Day 6 and Day 7, the enhancement observed for the burn patient cultures represented a restoration to the level of normal control cultures without IL-2. A dose-dependent increase in AMLR was observed in T cells isolated from normal and burned patients in the presence of purified Interleukin 2. These data suggest that burn-induced cell-mediated immunological alterations may be caused by an imbalance between regulatory T-cell subsets characterized by a decrease in helper inducer (OKT4+) cell number and a deficiency in the production of Interleukin 2. Burn patients appear to express the receptor for IL-2 and do not appear to be sensitive to modulation by prostaglandin inhibitors.

Defective immunological functions associated with abnormal lymphokine‐activated killer activity in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

The in vitro lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) activity of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from 36 patients with hepatocellular carcinoma was investigated. The activity was greatly diminished in 13 patients and enhanced in seven patients. A flow cytometric study showed that the percentage of OKM1+, Leu-7+-11b+, and Leu-7-11b+ fractions in PBMC was decreased and the percentage of OKT8+ and Leu7+11- fractions was increased significantly in the 13 patients with lower LAK activity, compared with the values of the seven higher LAK activity patients. Furthermore, the response of PBMC to interleukin-2 (IL-2) was deficient in the lower activity group. However, there was no significant difference in IL-2 production by PBMC, IL-2 receptor (p55) expression of PBMC and mitogen (Con-A, PHA) response of PBMC between the two groups. These findings indicate the possibility that diminished LAK activity in hepatoma patients is due to a decreased number of LAK precursor cells and a defective response of LAK precursor cells to IL-2.

Effects of antiestrogen and progestin on immune functions in breast cancer patients.

Several immunologic variables were evaluated in 14 patients with untreated primary breast cancer and 20 postmastectomized patients undergoing tamoxifen (TAM) or high-dose medroxyprogesterone acetate (MPA) treatment. Immunologic evaluation in the peripheral blood included lymphocyte count, definition of T-lymphocyte subsets by monoclonal antibodies (OKT3, OKT11, OKT4, and OKT8), and lymphocyte blastogenic response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) and Concanavalin A (Con A). Moreover, the in vitro effect of TAM and MPA on the blastogenic response of peripheral lymphocytes from normal female subjects was tested. Primary breast cancer patients did not differ from controls in any of the variables tested. Similarly, the immunologic variables of the group treated with TAM were normal, with the exception of a slight reduction of the OKT4+/OKT8+ ratio. In MPA-treated patients, a reduction of the percentage of OKT4+ cells and a decrease of the OKT4+/OKT8+ ratio were observed. Moreover, response to PHA was reduced sharply. However, the addition of interleukin-2 (IL-2) to the culture medium restored PHA response. Likewise, the in vitro addition of MPA to peripheral blood lymphocytes from normal female subjects resulted in a sharp dose-dependent depression of PHA response while TAM was ineffective completely. The inhibitory effect of MPA was not evident when IL-2 was added simultaneously to the culture medium. These results show that the administration of high-dose MPA may alter immunocompetence as defined by T-lymphocyte subsets and response to mitogens. The latter effect may be related to a diminished production of IL-2. In contrast, TAM does not appear to have a significant immunodepressant action either in vitro or in vivo.

Evaluation of immunoregulatory cells in Duchenne muscular dystrophy and spinal muscular atrophy among African and Indian patients

Suppressor cells were assayed by numerical and functional tests in Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) among African and Indian children in order to contribute to an understanding of the pathogenesis of these neurological disorders. Peripheral blood mononuclears (PBM) were classified as total T cells and T cell subsets by the OKT series of monoclonal antibodies and as B cells by the presence of surface immunoglobulin. The suppressive effects of PBM pretreated with concanavalin A (Con A) on normal homologous phytohaemagglutinin (PHA) transformation of mononuclear cells was determined. PBM stimulation by PHA was also assessed. Patients with DMD had a significant increase ( P = 0.0353) in the number of T suppressor/cytotoxic cells (1218 ± 142 cells/mm 3, mean ± SE) as compared to controls (815 ± 95 cells/mm 3) and a significant reduction ( P = 0.0282) in OKT4 + cells expressed as a percentage of OKT3 +, 50% ± 3 compared to 61% ± 3. No differences were detected in any of the numerical assays employed in SMA as compared to controls, or within SMA patients according to severity of disease. Suppressor function and PHA transformation were normal in both groups of patients. No significant correlations were detected between numerical and functional assays of suppression. The implication of the results obtained for the role of immunoregulatory cells in the pathogenesis of DMD in these children is discussed.

Effect of Acute Physical Exercise on Lymphocyte Subpopulations in Trained and Untrained Subjects

To clarify the difference in immunity between untrained subjects and well-trained athletes, the number of total leukocytes (WBC), lymphocytes, and neutrophils, percentages of various lymphocyte subpopulations (OKT3, OKT4, OKT8, Leu7, OKla1), and the levels of lymphocyte transformation response to phytohemagglutinin (PHA) were determined in five untrained male subjects and six male athletes before, immediately after, and 24 and 72 h after acute physical exercise at 60% of VO2max for 2 h. Exercise produced a significant rise in the number of WBC, lymphocytes, and neutrophils in both groups. Immediately after exercise, the percentage of OKT3 or OKT4 positive cells had significantly decreased in both groups, whereas that of OKT8 positive cells had markedly increased only in the athletes. Neither group showed any change in the percentage of OKla1 positive cells. In both groups, the response of lymphocytes to PHA immediately after exercise was significantly lower than before, 24 h and 72 h after exercise. The level of Leu7 positive cells rose remarkably immediately after exercise in the athletes, but not significantly in the untrained subjects. These results suggest that an increase in Leu7 positive cells provides added host defense capacity in trained athletes during periods of stress which impair T-lymphocyte function.

Interferon-alpha induction of lymphocytes containing parallel tubular structures.

The induction by IFN-alpha in peripheral blood lymphocytes of parallel tubular structures (PTS) and/or electron-dense granules occurring in a minority of peripheral blood lymphocytes was examined. IFN reportedly augments natural killer (NK) cell activity of large granular lymphocytes (LGL); these cells contain PTS and/or electron-dense granules. Normal peripheral blood mononuclear cells were incubated with IFN-alpha and surface antigen expression was measured by means of indirect immunofluorescence and, at the ultrastructural level, using gold labelled monoclonal antibodies. Surface antigen reactivity with the monoclonal antibodies OKT 3, 4, 8 and Anti-Leu-7 (HNK-1) showed no difference between the IFN-alpha incubation and non-IFN-alpha groups. However, electron microscope investigation revealed significant absolute increases in the percentage of OKT 8+ and Anti-Leu-7+ cells which were PTS-positive after IFN-alpha treatment compared with the control groups. The cytotoxicity assay using the K562 cell line showed enhanced lytic activity. Our results suggest that cells coexpressing the OKT 8 and Leu-7 antigens may be responsible for a minor proportion of the increase in PTS but that IFN-alpha mainly induces PTS and/or associated structures in cells which express the OKT 8+ antigen. These PTS+/OKT 8+ cells may contribute to enhanced cell cytotoxicity.

Marginal periodontitis and the immune system. III. Differences in peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets before and after treatment in adult periodontitis patients

The lymphocyte subsets in the peripheral blood of 8 individuals, aged 25 to 57 yr, with moderate to advanced adult periodontitis were analyzed before and after treatment by means of flow cytometry, and then compared with the findings in 20 normal adults (aged 30 to 45 yr). The results were as follows: the percentage of OKT-8+ (CD 8) in the patients (20.25 +/- 7.15%) was lower than that in normal individuals (31.50 +/- 6.03%, P less than 0.01) while the OKT-4/OKT-8 ratio (2.34 +/- 1.18) was higher than the corresponding ratio in the controls (1.23 +/- 0.37); however, there was no significant difference in the percentages of OKT-3+ (CD 3), OKT-4+ (CD 4) and Leu-12+ (CD 19) between patients and normal subjects. The percentages of OKT-3+, OKT-4+, OKT-8+, Leu-12+ and OKT-4/OKT-8 after the periodontal therapy did not show a significant difference compared with the data obtained before treatment. These results indicate that the decrease in suppressor/cytotoxic T-cell population may be a kind of pathological disposition of the initiation and/or course of adult periodontitis.

A STUDY OF LYMPHOCYTIC BLASTOGENESIS WITH PHA AND PURINE NUCLEOSIDE PHOSPHORYLASE (PNP) ACTIVITY OF LYMPHOCYTES IN BREAST CANCER PATIONTS

Lymphocytic blastogenesis with PHA is widely known as a nonspecific cell-mediated immuno-parameter. Since a defect in purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) has been described in the case of cell-mediated immunodeficiency disease, PNP activity is also useful as an immuno-parameter. We measured these two parameters and examined the immunoactivity of lymphocytes of peripheral blood and regional lymph nodes in patients with breast cancer. Between June 1982 and December 1985, 74 patients with breast cancer were studied. We also examined T-cell subsets (OKT 4, OKT 8) in regional lymph nodes. The following results were obtained.(1) The blastogenesis with PHA of peripheral blood lymphocytes showed higher levels in the earlier stage than in the advanced stage, and PNP activity was inversely correlated with blastogenesis with PHA.(2) The regional lymph node lymphocytes showed a higher level of blastogenesis induced by PHA in the group without lymph node involvement (n (-)) than in the group with nodal involvement (n (+)). On the other hand, the n (-) group showed lower PNP activity than the n (+) group.(3) In the n (+) group, the increased PNP activity and the decreased blastogenesis with PHA of the juxtaregional lymph nodes were highly correlated with increasing lymph node metastases compared with those of the regional lymph nodes. The juxtaregional lymph nodes were considered to represent the so-called “sentinel nodes” in immunopotency in the axilla.(4) The percentage of OKT 8 in lymphocytes of the axillary lymph nodes in the n (+) group was higher than in the n (-) group.

Augmentation of the generation of OK-432 activated killer cells after a single dose of mitomycin C in cancer patients

Effect of mitomycin C (MMC) administration on the generation of cytotoxic cells induced by in vitro activation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBM) with OK-432, a bacterial immunopotentiator, was studied in patients with various carcinomas. Following i.v. injection of a single dose of 12 mg/m 2MMC, the ability of PBM to generate OK-432 activated killer cells was markedly increased. Thus, the cytotoxic activity observed 7 days after MMC administration was significantly augmented as compared to that before treatment. Therefore, the ability to generate lymphokine activated killer (LAK) cells was examined, and significantly increased capacity was observed 5 and 7 days after MMC injection. Then the OK-432 activated killer cell activity significantly correlated with the LAK activity. After treatment, the distribution of lymphocyte subsets exhibited a significant decrease in the percentage of OKT8 + cells. Leu-11 + cells were also reduced. The results appear to indicate that the imbalance in T-cell subsets and the increase in the ability to induce LAK cells may be related to the augmenting effect of MMC administration on the generation of OK-432 activated killer cells in cancer patients.

頭頚部悪性腫よう患者末梢血リンパ球数とリンパ球サブセットについて

In 40 patients diagnosed as having head and neck region malignant tumors, we studied the changes of peripheral blood lymphocyte and its subpopulation using OK and T series monoclonal antibody.We divided the patients into three classes: good prognostic cases (13 cases), cancerous cases (16 cases) and death cases (11 cases).Peripheral blood lymphocyte showed tendencies of decreases in the following order: good prognostic cases, cancerous cases and death cases (p<0.01).In death cases, 8 cases (73%). showed that the number of peripheral blood lymphocyte was under 1, 000/mm3.We found no significant correlation in both the percentage and the number of OKT-1+ & NKH-1+.The percentages of OKT-3+ & OKT-8+ showed tendencies of increases in the following order: good prognostic cases, cancerous cases and death cases.But, the number of OKT-3+, decreased in the following order: good prognostic cases, cancerous cases and death cases (p<0.05). The number of OKT-8+, showed the same order of decreases as above.The percent and the number of OKT-4+, decreased in the following: good prognostic cases, cancerous cases and death cases (p<0.05, p<0.01).The “T helper/T suppressor” ratio (OKT-4+/OKT-8+) showed significant increases in the following order: death cases, cancerous cases and good prognostic cases (p<0.01).We considered most probable that the decline of the immunological capacity in head and neck region malignant tumor patients were caused by the decreases in the number of OKT-4+.

Implications of circulating autoantibodies and peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets for the genesis of premature ovarian failure

Several kinds of circulating autoantibodies and peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were studied in 20 patients with secondary amenorrhea manifesting hormonal and clinical features of premature ovarian failure (POF). More than one kind of autoantibody was detected in 14 patients (70%). Seven patients (35%) had anti-thyroglobulin antibody, 6 (30%) had anti-parietal cell antibody, 8 (40%) had anti-nuclear antibody, and one patient with chronic thyroiditis had anti-TSH receptor antibody. Anti-adrenal cortex antibody and RA test were negative in all patients. Two patients had clinically evident autoimmune disease; one had myasthenia gravis and the other had chronic thyroiditis. Examination of peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets of 19 patients by flow cytometry revealed an increase in the percentage of OKT3+ cells and OKT4+ cells and a decrease in OKT8+ cells in POF patients compared with age-matched controls, but these differences were not significant. An increase in the OKT4/OKT8 ratio was, however, significant. It has been suggested that an autoimmune mechanism may participate in the genesis of POF, at least in patients with autoimmune diseases; however, the findings in this study support the hypothesis that some pure POF may also be caused by an autoimmune process resulting from a subclinical imbalance in the immunoregulatory system before manifestation of the autoimmune disease.

Separation and analysis of mononuclear cells infiltrating the thyroid of patients with Graves' disease

A simple method was established for separating lymphocytes infiltraing the thyroid from thyroid epithelial cells. Namely, suspensions of minced thyroid from patients with Graves' disease were layered on a Percoll two-step density gradient (p = 1.050 and 1.077 g/ml) and centrifuged (400g, 30 min, 4°C). In this way 0.1–18 × 10 5 lymphocytes/g of thyroid tissue with a purity of 65–95% were obtained. Thyroid lymphocytes were analyzed quantitatively with monoclonal antibodies by laser flow cytometry and compared with peripheral lymphocytes. The proportion of OKT3 + cells was decreased with increase in OKIa + cells. The percentage of OKIa + cells was significantly correlated with that of Leu12 + cells. The percentages of OKT4 + cells and OKIa + cells were higher when analyzed with an extended gate window, which was arranged for detection of activated, large-sized lymphocytes. The percentages of OKT8 + and Leu7 + cells were not significantly different from those in peripheral blood. From these results it was concluded that (1) the proportion of B lymphocytes is increased and that of T lymphocytes is decreased, (2) the proportion of activated B lymphocytes is increased, (3) some helper/inducer T cells are activated in the thyroid gland in Graves' disease, and (4) these activated lymphocytes may be important in local production of antithyroid autoantibodies.

Immunoregulatory T-lymphocyte functions in patients with small cell lung cancer

The present study was performed to elucidate the differences in immune status between patients with small cell lung cancer (SCLC) and those with non-small cell lung cancer. The study group consisted of 18 patients with SCLC and 15 with non-SCLC. Two healthy volunteers and 13 patients with benign disease were also included in the present study as the non-cancer control. In the non-SCLC group, although not statistically significant, the percentages of both OKT3+ and OKT4+ T-lymphocytes in the peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were slightly decreased, associated with a slight increase in the percentage of OKT8+ T-cells, and a slight decrease in the OKT4+ to OKT8+ T-cell ratio. In contrast, the PBL of the SCLC patients showed significantly lower proliferative responses to phytohemagglutinin and human recombinant interleukin 2 than did the PBL of both the SCLC patients and the noncancer control group. The ability of PBL to produce lymphokines (interleukin 2 and macrophage activating factor) was significantly impaired in the SCLC group but not in the non-SCLC group. These results suggest that suppression of helper T-cell functions and/or potentiation of suppressor T-cell functions should occur in patients with SCLC.

T-Lymphocyte Subsets in Primary Lung Cancer

T-cell subsets in the peripheral blood of 63 primary lung cancer patients (23 with adenocarcinoma, 23 with squamous cell carcinoma and 17 with small cell carcinoma) and 24 normal healthy controls were determined by indirect immunofluorescence, using the monoclonal antibody reagents OKT3, OKT4 and OKT8. Correlations between T-lymphocyte subset values and stages or cell types of disease were sought. Total lymphocytes in the patient group were decreased. However, no significant difference from controls was seen in the percentage of OKT3-positive cells (Pan T-cells) in the cancer patients. The percentage of OKT8-positive cells (cytotoxic/suppressor) was increased in the early stage of disease whereas the percentage of OKT4 positive cells (inducer/helper) remained at the control level throughout all stages. The ratio of OKT4-positive to OKT8-positive T-cells (OKT4/OKT8), reflecting the balance of immunoregulatory T-cells, was, therefore, significantly decreased in patients with stage I-II lung cancer (P less than 0.05), especially in squamous cell lung cancer (P less than 0.05), whereas in stages III or IV, this T4/T8 ratio returned to the control level. In small cell carcinoma, the T4/T8 ratio was significantly decreased in stage III (P less than 0.01) and returned to the control level in stage IV.

The behaviour of OKT3-, OKT4- and OKT8-positive cells during phases of elevated spontaneous chemiluminescence activity (CL-A) in multiple sclerosis patients. A serial study.

The chemiluminescence activity (CL-A; synonym = burst activity, BA) and the percentage of OKT3-, OKT4- and OKT8-positive peripheral blood cells were serially examined in four control persons and in eight patients with multiple sclerosis. When the OKT values obtained in phases of increased CL-A (clinical remission) were compared with those of the control group, the percentage of OKT3-positive cells was reduced (P = 0.014), and that of OKT4-positive cells increased (P = 0.014); there were no significant changes in the percentage of OKT8-positive cells (P = 0.171). After the CL-A had returned to normal values, the OKT4-positive cells remained elevated (P = 0.029), whereas the OKT3- (P = 0.342) and OKT8-positive cells (P = 0.443) showed no significant changes. When in the same patients, phases of increased CL-A were compared with phases in which values were not elevated, a reduced percentage of OKT3-positive cells was found in phases with increased CL-A (P = 0.031); however, the OKT4-positive and OKT8-positive cells did not differ significantly (P = 0.156 and 0.281).

T cell peripheral subsets in lichen sclerosus et atrophicus.

Summary Peripheral blood T lymphocytes and T cell subsets were examined in 17 subjects with lichen sclerosus et atrophicus using monoclonal antibodies OKT3, OKT4, OKT8 The results were compared with those obtained from 17 healthy age-and sex-matched controls. The percentages of OKT3, and OKT8, cells were significantly reduced in patients with LSA, A direct correlation between the degree of activity of the disease and percentages of OKT3+3, OKT4+, cells and the helper suppressor ratio was observed. These data are then discussed.

Healthy HTLV-I carriers in Japan: the haematological and immunological characteristics.

The haematological and immunological characteristics of 34 healthy anti-HTLV-I antibody-positive individuals (HTLV-I carriers) in southwestern Japan were examined. No significant difference was noted between carriers and the controls in counts of RBC, WBC and the absolute number of lymphocytes. The serum IgG in the carriers was higher than that of the controls. The percentages of OKT4, OKT8, OKIa1 and B1-positive cells were found to be normal in the peripheral blood of the carriers, whereas the percentages of OKT11 and anti-Tac-positive cells were significantly higher in the carriers than in the controls. A correlation was observed between the percentages of anti-Tac-positive cells and the titres of anti-HTLV-I antibody in the carriers. After a 72 h incubation of peripheral blood lymphocytes with medium alone, the percentage of anti-Tac-positive cells tended to decrease in the controls, but to increase in carriers, with the appearance of large blastoid cells resembling blastic transformed lymphocytes cultured with mitogen. Tac and Ia antigens were markedly expressed on these large blastoid cells.

Alterations in Immunoregulatory T-Cell Subsets in Cigarette Smokers: A Phenotypic Analysis of Bronchoalveolar and Blood Lymphocytes

Abnormalities in the proportions of immunoregulatory T-lymphocytes in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid have been reported in interstitial pulmonary diseases, yet the effect of cigarette smoking on T-cell subsets in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid from normal subjects has not been investigated. We applied an immunoperoxidase technique performed on glass slides using the monoclonal antibodies, OKT3, OKT4, OKT8, OKIa, and Leu-7 to study T-cell subsets in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid and blood of 11 normal nonsmokers and 12 smokers. In the bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of smokers, a decrease in the percentage of OKT4+ helper/inducer and an increase in OKT8+ suppressor/cytotoxic cells resulted in a markedly decreased OKT4/OKT8 ratio (0.9 +/- 0.4) compared with nonsmokers (1.9 +/- 0.8) (p less than 0.005). These abnormalities of lymphocyte subsets in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid correlated with the cumulative pack-years of smoking history but were not reflected in the peripheral blood. These results suggest that cellular immunoregulation is disturbed in the lungs of cigarette smokers. This may play a role in pulmonary defense mechanisms and tumor immunity.

T-suppressor cell defects in euthyroid nonendemic goitre.

Recently it has been suggested that a substantial number of nonendemic goitre cases can be considered as organ-specific autoimmune disorders of the thyroid. Circulating immunoglobulins, probably receptor autoantibodies, stimulating guinea pig thyroid growth in vitro (TGI) can be found in 2/3 of such patients. Defects in the regulatory balance between T-helper (Th) and T-suppressor (Ts) cells have been described in other thyroid autoimmune diseases, such as Graves' disease and Hashimoto goitre. Such defects are thought to play a role in the loss of control over thyroid autoantibody producing B cells. To investigate whether Ts cell defects can also be found in nonendemic euthyroid goitre, we studied their number and function in 15 of such patients. All patients were clinically euthyroid. Eleven were positive for TGI. Circulating T cells, Th cells and Ts/cytotoxic cells were enumerated using monoclonal antibody techniques (OKT3, Leu3a and OKT8, respectively). Suppressor cell function was assessed employing a proliferation assay in which a short-lived population of such cells was removed by a 24 h preculture. A significant difference was found between patients and controls regarding the Leu3a+/OKT8+ cell ratio: 2.74 (SD 0.94) in patients vs 1.75 (SD 0.38) in controls (P less than 0.01); the disturbed ratio was mainly due to a decrease in the percentage of OKT8+ cells. The functional Ts cell assay also showed a defect of patient lymphocytes: patient removal index (SRI) was 1.5 (SD 1.0) vs an index of 2.6 (SD 1.2) for healthy controls (P less than 0.05). A fair correlation between the numerical and functional data on Ts cells was observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)