Populations of circulating T lymphocytes in patients with alcoholic cirrhosis

The characteristics, the origin and the role in the determinism and/or in the course of hepatocellular necrosis of immune disorders in patients with alcoholic liver cirrhosis still remain unclear. In this study, the T-lymphocyte population was determined by sheep-rosette formation and labelling with OKT3-monoclonal antibodies. T-cell subsets were investigated using OKT4 and OKT8 monoclonal antibodies in the peripheral blood of 40 alcoholic patients with cirrhosis (CA) and of 23 non-cirrhotic alcoholic (ANC) patients. The results were compared to those in 34 healthy volunteers. A decrease in the percentage of T-lymphocytes in the two groups of alcoholic subjects was noted. However, this decrease was significant only in the CA group and only when OKT3 antibodies were used as markers. The lymphocyte-subset identified by OKT4 antibodies was decreased as well in the CA and ANC groups; however the OKT8+ subset was significantly decreased in the CA group only (p less than 0.001). No correlation was found between this decrease in OKT8+ subpopulation or between the increased OKT4/OKT8 ratio and all biochemical parameters of hepatic function measured in this study. The significance of this T-cell imbalance in CA has still to be elucidated, concerning both the functional activity of the reduced pool of OKT8+ cells (suppressor or cytotoxic?) and the mechanism of this decrease.     

Occurrence of increased alpha-fetoprotein in non-neoplastic hepatopathies of alcoholic or non-alcoholic origin

In order to improve the evaluation of the frequency of alpha-fetoprotein reappearance in non-neoplastic liver disease, we assayed serum alpha-fetoprotein in 251 patients: 134 chronic alcoholics including 7 HBs Ag positive patients, 113 of whom had cirrhosis and 117 patients with chronic active hepatitis, 56 of whom were HBs Ag positive. None of these patients had any signs of hepatocellular carcinoma. Alpha-fetoprotein values above the upper normal limit (much greater than 20 ng/ml) were compared with the type of the liver disease, the serum aminotransferase activity, the usual hepatitis B-virus markers assayed by standard radioimmunology and, in 70 patients, with the results of the HBV-DNA hybridization in the liver. Abnormal alpha-fetoprotein levels were found in only 6.3 p. 100 of patients with HBs Ag negative alcoholic disease and in 17 p. 100 of patients with chronic active hepatitis, without any statistical difference concerning the presence of HBs Ag or not. Alpha-fetoprotein was more often abnormal in subjects who had hypertransaminasemia. For given values of transaminases no statistical relationship between serum alpha-fetoprotein levels and the presence of HBs Ag was observed.     

Cord blood T lymphocytes lack constitutive perforin expression in contrast to adult peripheral blood T lymphocytes

Perforin is the cytolytic pore-forming protein, which alone can be responsible for the lethal hit in one of the killing mechanisms used by natural killer (NK) cells or cytotoxic T lymphocytes. In this study, perforin expression was investigated in cord blood (CB) lymphocytes to determine their killing potential in vivo. The majority of CB CD3- NK cells had the protein. Compared with adult perforin-positive NK cells, a significantly lower percentage of cells expressing CD56 and CD57, the related neural cell adhesion molecules, was found (P = .0001). Perforin was also present in a unique immature CB NK-cell subset, characterized by cytoplasmic CD3 antigen (Ag) expression. In CB, very few CD8 perforin-positive T lymphocytes could be detected, but they were in significant numbers in adult peripheral blood (P = .02). A substantial proportion of these cells (70% +/- 23%) lacked the CD28 T-cell coactivation Ag, and they were able to exert NK-like, major histocompatibility complex nonrestricted cytolytic activity. CD4+ and gamma delta-T cells expressing perforin were absent from CB, but low numbers of such cells were detected in adult peripheral blood (P = .0001). Therefore, the spontaneous cytolytic activity of CB lymphocytes appeared to be dependent on well-represented perforin-positive NK cells, which were shown to efficiently lyse NK-sensitive target cells.     

Prevalence of HLA-A and -B antigens, anti-HBc and -HBs antibodies in alcoholic hepatopathies

The frequency of 26 HLA-A and B antigens and of antibodies to the hepatitis B core antigen (anti-HBc) and surface antigen (anti-HBs) has been studied in 150 alcoholic patients divided into 3 groups: I) n = 50, isolated hepatic steatosis; II) n = 50, acute alcoholic hepatitis +/- cirrhosis; III) n = 50, cirrhosis without acute alcoholic hepatitis. For the control group 184 blood donors were selected. In all these subjects, as in all the alcoholic patients, the Alsatian origin of four grand parents was proved. An increased frequency of HLA-B15 was observed in group III (34 p. 100) compared to the control group (9.8 p. 100) (corrected p less than 0.001). There was no significant difference between the four groups for all the other HLA antigens. In group III, the prevalence of anti-HBc and/or anti-HBs was higher in patients with HLA-B15 (64.7 p. 100) than in patients without this antigen (15.1 p. 100) (p less than 0.001). In groups I and II, there was no significant difference. These results suggest that there is a genetic predisposition to cirrhosis without acute alcoholic hepatitis, dependent on HLA-B15 antigen. This predisposition could involve the hepatitis B virus.     

氨茶碱对健康人外周血T细胞及CD4~+亚群凋亡的影响

目的观察氨茶碱对分离培养的健康人外周血T细胞及CD4+亚群凋亡的影响。方法密度梯度离心法及尼龙棉柱法分离健康成年人外周血T细胞,及CD8阴性选择磁性分离健康成年人外周血CD4+T细胞。分两部分进行:①外周血T细胞分对照组、氨茶碱组(0.14～18μg/ml),培养72h后用流式细胞术检测凋亡率变化;②CD4+T细胞分对照组、小剂量氨茶碱组(1.13μg/ml)培养48～72h后用流式细胞术检测凋亡率变化。结果①T细胞的分离纯度为81.3%～94.5%,CD4+T细胞的分离纯度为84%～90%;②(0.14～18μg/ml)氨茶碱共培养人外周血T细胞72h后,其中氨茶碱1.13～18μg/ml组凋亡率差异有统计学意义(P值均<0.05);氨茶碱0.14～0.56μg/ml组凋亡率与阴性对照组比较差异无统计学意义;③氨茶碱1.13μg/ml组干预后,培养CD4+T细胞48～72h,经流式细胞术检测凋亡率,与阴性对照组相比,P值均<0.05,48h的凋亡率与72h者相比,差异有统计学意义(P<0.05)。结论小剂量氨茶碱(1.13μg/ml)可诱导人外周血T细胞和CD4+T细胞凋亡率增加。     

Karyotype study of blood lymphocytes in sarcoidosis

Among 31 patients presenting with pulmonary sarcoidosis, two had abnormalities of their blood lymphocyte karyotypes. The karyotype of the first patient showed an initially high percentage of non-specifically broken chromosomes. The second patient, who had been treated with azathioprine (AZ) one year previously, had an apparently balanced translocation 46 XX, t (11; 11) (p 12, p 14) in blood T lymphocytes but not in skin fibroblast culture. Various hypotheses can be discussed to explain this translocation: a direct toxic effect of AZ or a genomic abnormality depending upon sarcoidosis and possibly revealed by AZ. It is important to note that this translocation concerned a region of the short arm of chromosome 11, where Harvey ras I and parathormone genes have been located.     

Differentiation of anti-tumour cytotoxic T lymphocytes from autologous peripheral blood lymphocytes in non-Hodgkin's lymphomas

We have previously reported that specific anti-tumour cytotoxic T cells (CTL) can be differentiated from tumour-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL) in non-Hodgkin's lymphoma. We found that the combination of interleukin (IL)-1, IL-2 and IL-12 was very efficient for expansion of CD8+ T-cell receptor (TCR)alphabeta+ T cells and for development of their ability to specifically lyse tumour cells. In this study, we investigated whether anti-tumour T cells could be generated from the peripheral blood of patients using the culture protocol developed for TIL. Autologous T cells and tumour B cells from five patients were included in this study. It was found that polyclonal anti-tumour cytotoxic effector cells were generated when cultured in the presence of IL-1beta, IL-2 and IL-12. Interestingly, tumour cells were lysed by perforin/granzyme-mediated cytolysis and not by CD95-mediated apoptosis. By performing inhibition experiments, it was observed that both CD8+ and CD4+ T cells were responsible for the cytotoxic effect and that they were able to recognize malignant B cells by either a major histocompatibility complex (MHC)-restricted or MHC-non-restricted mechanism. Intriguingly, in addition to interferon-gamma and tumour necrosis factor-alpha, IL-10 was secreted continuously during culture. The source of patient T cells used for the generation of anti-tumour CTL should be based on the results obtained with peripheral blood lymphocytes and TIL.     

Acid hydrolases in normal B and T blood lymphocytes.

B and T lymphocytes were separated by means of the spontaneous sheep red blood cell rosette formation technique from 3 normal donors. The following acid hydrolases were biochemically determined on separated B and T lymphocytes: acid phosphatase, beta-glucuronidase, beta-galactosidase, beta-hexosaminidase, alpha-arabinosidase, alpha-galactosidase, alpha-mannosidase, alpha-glucosidase, and pH 4.0 and pH 5.0 beta-glucosidase. The activities of most of the acid hydrolases including acid phosphatase and beta-glucuronidase were found to be slightly decreased in B lymphocytes when compared to T lymphocytes. However, alpha-mannosidase activity was found to be significantly higher in the B lymphocytes than in the T lymphocytes and offers the possibility of using this enzyme as a B lymphocyte marker.     

Comparative studies of the determination of T lymphocytes in human peripheral blood

Different methods for determination of T-lymphocytes in human peripheral blood were compared: rosetting with sheep erythrocytes (SRBC), AET-treated SRBC, immunofluorescence using a monoclonal antibody against T cells (BL-T2), complement dependent cytolysis with polyclonal antisera against thymocytes, cytochemical demonstration of unspecific acid alpha-naphthyl-acetate esterase (ANAE), and electrophoretic mobility using a cell electrophoresis system (PARMOQUANT 2). Depending on the method, mean values between 70 and 79% T cells among separated mononuclear cells (MNC) were found. All paired observations were subjected to statistical analysis using rank correlation and U-test. From this analysis it is concluded that rosetting with SRBC, immunofluorescence using the monoclonal T-cell antibody and cytochemical reactivity for ANAE are favored methods for determining the T cell content of human MNC. However, the monoclonal antibody BL-T2 and the ANAE are not generally applicable because both markers were also found on malignant B-lymphocytes (B-CLL).     

Peripheral blood lymphocytes T gammadelta in children with acute acquired toxoplasmosis

The aim of the study was to determine the percentage participation of lymphocytes CD3TCRgammadelta in peripheral blood of children with acute toxoplasmosis. The study compromised 30 children aged 2-14 years. Increase of the percentage of CD3TCR gammadelta cells was observed in the group of children with clinical symptoms of toxoplasmosis (mean value 5.7%) in relation to the comparative group (mean 4.4%), but in 12 children (40%) the mean value was 8.1%. Toxoplasma gondii infection produces a strong signal for activation of cells with gammadelta receptors. Examination of CD3TCRgammadelta cells may be helpful in the diagnosis of the acute phase of T. gondii infection.     

The complement system in hepatopathies

Low serum complement is often observed in cirrhosis of the liver. This is the result of two mechanisms: a failure to synthesise a certain number of components and regulatory proteins of complement, and an increased consumption due to activation of the complement system. This acquired deficit in complement contributes to the increased risk of infection in patients with cirrhosis.     

HLA-DR positive T lymphocytes in blood and synovial fluid in rheumatoid arthritis

HLA-DR expression was found on 6.7 +/- 0.7% of blood T lymphocytes from 34 patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and 2.6 +/- 0.3% of T cells from normals. In synovial fluid (SF) of RA patients high percentages were found (56 +/- 3%, n = 18); the SF T lymphocytes showed an acid alpha-naphthyl acetate esterase pattern and cell morphology compatible with activated T lymphocytes. The helper function for pokeweed mitogen induced B cell differentiation was higher in blood T lymphocytes from RA patients than from normal controls; in SF T lymphocytes helper function could not be established. These differences between blood and SF T lymphocytes may represent differences in recirculating and homing properties of T cells in these compartments.     

T and B rosetting lymphocytes in the blood of smallpox patients.

The proportion of T and B cells in the peripheral blood of smallpox patients was determined. The average initial percentage of T cells was depressed (41 +/- 8.4%) in comparison with uninfected controls (65 +/- 7.6%), while the initial B cell counts averaged 26 +/- 11.4% and 28 +/- 5.1%, respectively. However, initial B cell percentages in four infected patients (two of whom died) were between 9 and 14, which are considerably lower than any control value, the lowest of which was 19%. Review of the literature emphasizes the both cellular and serological immunity play a role in recovery from pox disease; the two patients who had the highest initial nul cell (lymphocytes not identified as either T or B cells) counts died, while none of five patients who had consistently low nul cell counts died.     

Fc-IgG and Fc-IgM receptor-carrying lymphocytes in human blood. Optimization of determining T(M) lymphocytes

Several methods for enumeration of Fc receptor bearing T lymphocytes and mononuclear cells from human peripheral blood were compared. The detection of Fc receptors is based on the formation of EA rosettes by using bovine erythrocytes and purified rabbit IgG or IgM antibodies. As alternative method the mixed rosette assay (EA rosettes plus sheep erythrocyte rosettes) (3) was applied for determining TG lymphocytes without the need of T cell separation. Independent of the method used for T cell separation (preparative rosetting with sheep erythrocytes stabilized by AET or HSA) the number of TG and TM lymphocytes was found to be identical. TG values obtained by use of the mixed rosette assay were significant lower (10 +/- 2%) than those obtained with the classical test (18 +/- 5%) (EA rosettes after T cell separation). Obviously this difference is due to a contamination of T lymphocyte preparations by non-T cells. On freshly isolated T lymphocytes without overnight culture we obtained 29% and 35%, respectively TM lymphocytes after separation of T cells using sheep erythrocyte rosettes stabilized with AET or HSA. The expression of FcIgM receptors was found to be strongly dependent on the composition and pH value of the culture medium. In the presence of human AB serum the maximum of FcIgM receptor expression on isolated T cells was obtained at pH 8.5. Under optimum conditions we found 63% and 66% respectively TM lymphocytes after T cell separation using AET or HSA stabilized sheep erythrocytes.