Transient Increase of IgG Fc Receptor-Bearing T Lymphocytes following Positive PPD Skin Testing

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Abstract
In tuberculin-sensitive individuals, Ig[immunoglobulin]G Fc receptor (FcR)-bearing lymphocytes in the peripheral blood increased transiently following PPD[purified protein derivative]-tuberculin skin test. This rise in circulating FcR-bearing cells appeared to peak about 36-48 h after the intradermal inoculation of PPD and seemed to occur largely in the T [thymus derived] cell population. Skin test-negative individuals showed no significant changes in their circulating FcR-bearing cells following PPD inoculation. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from PPD-sensitive individuals were fractionated into non-T cell and T cell-enriched populations by E [erythrocyte] rosette sedimentation technique. FcR-bearing cells in the T cell-enriched population were eliminated by EA [erythrocyte, antibody] rosette sedimentation: i.e., FcR-negative T cells. Then, equal numbers (1 .times. 105 cells each) of non-T cells and unfractionated or FcR-negative T cells were recombined in culture. Prior to PPD inoculation, there was no significant difference between these 2 cell mixtures in the in vitro cellular response to PPd or mitogens. When these cell populations were obtained 36-48 h after PPD inoculation, the combination of non-T cells and FcR-negative T cells responded to PPD much better than the combination of non-T cells and unfractionated T cells; the mitogen-induced cellular proliferation of these 2 cell mixtures did not differ from each other.