Increased proportion of active sheep erythrocyte rosette-forming lymphocytes and plasma rosette enhancement in sarcoidosis.
We examined blood lymphocyte subpopulations in 20 patients with sarcoidosis, 37 patients with other diseases, and 51 normal subjects. The B-lymphocytes were identified by the presence of surface immunoglobulin or B-lymphocyte-associated antigen. Lymphocytes were also centrifuged with sheep erythrocytes for 5 min at room temperature at 200 g, and rosette formation was assayed immediately (active E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes) or after 60-min incubation at 4 degrees C (total T-lymphocytes). The B-lymphocytes counts did not differ among the groups. The proportions of total E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes and active E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes were increased in the sarcoid patients, whereas absolute counts of both types of E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes were not different from control counts. Active E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes showed an inverse correlation with serum concentration of angiotensin-1-converting enzyme, a probable indicator of the disease activity. Incubation of normal lymphocytes with sarcoid plasma increased the proportion of active E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes. This plasma rosette enhancement was correlated with the number of active E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes in the blood from which the plasma was separated. These results suggest that a factor in sarcoid plasma affects the number of active E-rosette-forming T-lymphocytes and that high numbers of these cells are associated with disease stability.
D000328:Adult; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A / Q000097:blood; D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell / Q000032:analysis; D012397:Rosette Formation; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*
D011947:Receptors, Antigen, B-Cell; D007703:Peptidyl-Dipeptidase A