Tγ lymphocytes of peripheral blood and synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis

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Abstract
The distribution of Tγ lymphocytes in the peripheral blood of one group of rheumatoid patients and in the synovial fluid in a second group was determined. The results were compared to those found for peripheral blood (PB) lymphocytes of normal subjects and for synovial fluid lymphocytes of osteoarthrosis and meniscitis patients. Besides recording percentage and absolute number, we also used cytofluorographic analysis to determine individual capacity of PB Tγ cells to bind heat‐aggregated IgG (agg‐IgG). The following results were found: 1) there is no significant difference between the percentage and absolute number of PB Tγ lymphocytes of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients and those of controls, 2) individual RA PB Tγ cells had a greater number and/or avidity of Fc receptor for IgG than those cells of controls, and 3) the percentage of RA Tγ lymphocytes in synovial fluid, revealed by IgG‐EA ox rosetting, is significantly lower than that found in control patients. The factors that may determine a similar lymphocyte picture in RA are discussed.