Subpopulation of adenoidal lymphocytes of recurrent infection in the upper respiratory tract

A subpopulation of adenoidal lymphocytes was determined by the E-and EAC-rosetting techniques in order to study an immunological profile of adenoids in 61 children with recurrent otitis media, rhinosinusitis or recurrent tonsillitis.Though there was no significant difference in E- and EAC-rosette forming cells of adenoid tissues from children with recurrent infection in the upper respiratory tract, our results indicated the following. (1) A higher proportion of EAC-rosette forming cells (EAC-RFC) without a change of E-RFC was found in the adenoids of children with recurrent tonsillitis than those without it. (2) The percentage of EAC-RFC appears to increase proportionally to the size of adenoid viewed on the X-ray film. (3) The higher percentage was more remarkable in cases with rhinosinusitis and recurrent otitis media. From the data obtained it is concluded that adenoids may play some part in immunity responses against infection in the upper respiratory tract reflecting adenoidal hypertrophy.