Cytochemistry of Human T Lymphocyte Subpopulations in Peripheral Blood

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Abstract
With sequential investigation of immunological and cytochemical markers on single cells, T lymphocyte subsets defined by monoclonal antibodies were examined in the peripheral blood of healthy adults. Leu-3a+ T cells (helper/inducer) were 80.0 .+-. 6.6% dot positive with unspecific acid .alpha.-naphthyl acetate esterase (ANAE) and 52.2 .+-. 15.8% dot positive with diaminopeptidase IV (DAP IV) staining, as compared to 52.6 .+-. 7.6% ANAE and 29.1 .+-. 10.9% DAP IV dot positivity in Leu-2a+ T cells (suppressor/cytotoxic). Although these differences were significant (P < 0.001 and P = 0.002, respectively), the rather high % of dot positivity in Leu-2a+ cells precludes ANAE or DAP IV staining as a simple method for the determination of T lymphocyte subsets. In acid phosphatase staining, no significant difference in focal positivity between Leu3a+ and Leu-2a+ T cell subpopulations was detected (63.3 .+-. 10.9% and 52.3 .+-. 10.0%, respectively; P > 0.1).