title: Relevance of anti-T monoclonal antibodies in the study of children with primary immunodeficiencies.
abstract: T-cell phenotypic analysis with anti-T monoclonal antibodies (MoAb) was performed on 37 children with immunologic disorders. Abnormalities of T-cell differentiation and/or of T-cell subset distribution were observed in many patients. In particular two infants with severe combined immunodeficiency showed immunologically incompetent common thymocytes (OKT6+) in the circulation, in one case a proportion of OKT6+ cells was OKT4-, OKT8-. A boy with a selective T-cell defect synthetized normal levels of Ig classes, despite the marked reduction of helper/inducer T-cells (OKT4+). Irregularities of T-cell subsets were also noted in children with Wiskott-Aldrich syndrome and in some patients with selective IgA defect or hypogammaglobulinaemia. In one of these, in whom the agammaglobulinaemia was caused by EBV infection, a persistently reversed OKT4+/OKT8+ ratio together with an excessive suppressor T-cell function were found more than 10 years after the onset of the disease. Such a case supports the hypothesis that a viral infection may cause, in a predisposed host, both the agammaglobulinaemia and an abnormality of the regulatory T-cell subpopulations. Such abnormalities, together with those found in the other children studied, underline the importance of MoAb against different T-cell antigens for a better characterization of primary immunodeficiencies.
authors.forename: P A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Tovo
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gabiano
authors.forename: M G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Roncarolo
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Delpiano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saitta
authors.forename: M C
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Giubellino
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Foa
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000361:Agammaglobulinemia / Q000276:immunology; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004406:Dysgammaglobulinemia / Q000276:immunology; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D017098:IgA Deficiency; D007153:Immunologic Deficiency Syndromes / Q000276:immunology*; D007223:Infant; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000276:immunology; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology*; D014923:Wiskott-Aldrich Syndrome / Q000276:immunology
chemical_list: D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal