INSITU CHARACTERIZATION OF LYMPHOCYTE-T SUBSETS IN THE REACTIONAL STATES OF LEPROSY

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  • 1 January 1983
    • journal article
    • research article
    • Vol. 53  (1) , 17-24
Abstract
Using monoclonal antibodies and the immunoperoxidase technique, the numbers and distribution of T lymphocyte subsets in the tissues of reactional states of leprosy (6 reversal reaction, 9 erythema nodosum leprosum (ENL) and 2 Lucio''s reaction) were determined and compared with those found in stable, nonreactional patients (6 tuberculoid, 2 borderline lepromatous and 7 lepromatous). The segregation pattern of the suppressor/cytotoxic phenotype at the periphery of the granuloma was found in nonreactional tuberculoid lesions and reversal reactions, but was better developed in the former. In ENL and Lucio''s reaction, and in nonreactional lepromatous tissue, the helper/inducer and suppressor/cytotoxic phenotypes were both admixed with the aggregated histiocytes. The helper/suppressor ratio in ENL (2.1 .+-. 0.4) was significantly larger than that in nonreactional lepromatous tissue (0.7 .+-. 0.4, P < 0.001). The immature thymocyte antigen OKT6 was found on scattered large non-lymphoid cells, most commonly in tuberculoid and reversal reaction tissues, less commonly in ENL, but only irregularly in nonreactional lepromatous tissue. The peripheral pattern of the suppressor/cytotoxic phenotype may be an immunohistological reflection of a cell-mediated immune response common to nonreactional tuberculoid and reversal reaction patients. The reversal of the helper/suppressor ratio in ENL as compared to nonreactional lepromatous disease suggests some role for cell-mediated immunity in the pathogenesis of ENL. The OKT6-positive cell is of unknown origin and function.