CIRCULATION OF DONOR LYMPHOCYTES AFTER BLOOD-TRANSFUSION IN MAN

  • 1 January 1977
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 49  (4) , 651-656
Abstract
Atypical lymphocytes (ATL) appear in the circulation of a large proportion of patients during the 1st wk following a blood transfusion. To determine the source of these ATL, cytogenetic studies were performed on the peripheral blood leukocytes of 10 adult patients who received fresh blood from donors of the opposite sex. Of the 10 patients, 9 had spontaneously dividing mononuclear cells of the recipient or host karyotype circulating during the latter part of the 1st wk after transfusion. In 2 patients the spontaneously dividing cells were of donor and host origin. Six patients had circulating phytohemagglutinin-responsive lymphocytes of the donor karyotype noted from 1-7 days after transfusion. The increase in circulating atypical lymphocytes, seen 1 wk after transfusion, probably represents the counterpart in vivo of the in vitro mixed leukocyte reaction. The dividing donor cells may represent a subclinical graft-vs.-host reaction.

This publication has 0 references indexed in Scilit: