title: Ulcerative colitis in a patient with anti-B lymphocytotoxin and hypogammaglobulinemia.
abstract: Lymphocytotoxins (LCT) have been recently reported in the serum of patients with inflammatory disease of the bowel, but up to now these antibodies have shown no specificity for B or T lymphocyte subpopulations. A 32-year-old patient with chronic ulcerative colitis, primary hypogammaglobulinemia and a very low number (0.5 to 1.5%) of B lymphocytes in peripheral blood is described. The presence in the serum of a LCT reacting specifically with B cells was demonstrated by cytotoxicity and direct immunofluorescence experiments. Intestinal immunofluorescence studies indicated a dichotomy between blood and gut immunoglobulins, and showed a heterogeneous distribution of plasma cells of the three major classes from the jejunum to the rectum. The significance of the association of hypogammaglobulinemia, chronic ulcerative colitis, and anti-B LCT is discussed. To explain the dissociation between blood and gut immunoglobulins, it is suggested that the intestine was, in this patient, a privileged site for differentiation of B cells.
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000361:Agammaglobulinemia / Q000150:complications* / Q000473:pathology; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D003093:Colitis, Ulcerative / Q000150:complications / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology; D003601:Cytotoxicity Tests, Immunologic; D005260:Female; D005455:Fluorescent Antibody Technique; D006801:Humans; D007109:Immunity; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007136:Immunoglobulins / Q000378:metabolism; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000276:immunology; D007422:Intestines / Q000276:immunology; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D007070:Immunoglobulin A; D007074:Immunoglobulin G; D007075:Immunoglobulin M; D007136:Immunoglobulins; D008233:Lymphotoxin-alpha