Lymphocyte populations of non-scleronodular Hodgkin's disease subtypes in different stages of lymphocyte depletion. An immunophenotypic and quantitative study.
Twenty-one cases of non-scleronodular Hodgkin's disease with variable lymphocyte contents were studied immunophenotypically and quantitatively to analyse the distribution of different lymphocyte populations and to determine whether selective loss of lymphocyte subpopulations accompanies overall lymphocyte depletion. In Hodgkin's tissue B-cells were scanty and unevenly distributed in samples with both many and few lymphocytes. Several large B, LN1-positive (possibly activated) cells were observed in a few cases. CD3-positive T-lymphocytes predominated in all cases; the same cells were also UCHL1-positive, thus expressing characteristics of mature T-memory cells. CD4-positive lymphocytes were usually more numerous than CD8-positive lymphocytes, but quantitative evaluation of the latter showed that they did not decrease in proportion to any diminution of the whole lymphocyte population. This finding suggests that in the process of lymphocyte depletion more CD4-positive lymphocytes than CD8-positive lymphocytes are lost, and this might account for the impairment of cell-mediated immunity in Hodgkin's disease.
Valente
G
G
Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche e Oncologia Umana Università di Torino, Turin, Italy.
Ferrara
P
P
Stramignoni
A
A
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D006689:Hodgkin Disease / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D010641:Phenotype; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal