T-CELL DEPLETION AND INVITRO THYMOSIN INDUCIBILITY IN ASTHMATIC-CHILDREN

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  • 1 January 1978
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 31  (3) , 490-498
Abstract
Thirty asthmatic children were compared with an equal number of age-matched healthy children. The mean peripheral blood T [thyumus-derived] lymphocyte level without fetal calf serum was lower in the asthmatic group (mean 970/mm3, as against 1740/mm3; P < 0.0001), but this difference was abolished by adding fetal calf serum or thymosin, thus explaining how quite severe T cell deficiency can be missed by widely used methods. The degree of eosinophilia and the degree of elevation of the plasma Ig[immunoglobulin]E level in the asthmatic patients were positively correlated. Positive correlations were also shown between the degree of severity of the asthma, the degree of eosinophilia and the degree of elevation of the plasma IgE level, but not the degree of depression of T cell numbers. If this T cell deficiency reflects an inadequate suppression of IgE responses, a clinical trial of thymosin appears to be warranted.