title: Changes in subpopulations of lymphocytes in peripheral blood, and supramammary and prescapular lymph nodes of cows with mastitis and normal cows.
abstract: Direct immunofluorescence (IF) and indirect IF techniques were employed to analyze the distribution of B and T lymphocyte populations in peripheral blood, and in supramammary (draining), and prescapular (non-draining) lymph nodes of cows with mastitis and normal cows. In the peripheral blood there was a significant decrease in the percent and absolute number of B lymphocytes in mastitic cows (n = 29; 17.1 +/- 10.2%; 3.4 +/- 2.7 X 10(5) cells/ml) as compared to normal cows (n = 38; 25.2 +/- 7.8%; 9.3 +/- 5.4 X 10(5) cells/ml). The percent T lymphocyte count in mastitic cows (71.2 +/- 7.1%) was slightly increased over that of normals (65.8 +/- 7.2%), although the absolute number of T lymphocytes was decreased in mastitic cows (1.49 +/- 0.91 X 10(6) cells/ml vs. 2.47 +/- 1.28 X 10(6) cells/ml). In the prescapular lymph node the percent of B lymphocytes, but not T or "null lymphocytes", decreased significantly in mastitic cows as compared to that of normals. The decrease, i.e. 32%, paralleled the 32.1% decrease found in peripheral blood B lymphocytes. In contrast, in the supramammary lymph node of mastitic cows, the percent B lymphocytes increased over that of normals (35.1 +/- 2.0% vs. 20.4 +/- 9.4%), whereas the percent T lymphocytes decreased to 54.5 +/- 2.8% compared to 70.7 +/- 3.5% in normal cows. There was no significant change in percent "null lymphocytes". The weight of prescapular lymph nodes did not change in mastitic cows when compared to that of normals. As a result, the estimated number of B lymphocytes, but not of T and "null lymphocytes", decreased.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathobiology, University of Connecticut, Storrs 06268.
authors.forename: T J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Yang
authors.forename: J F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Mather
authors.forename: E D
authors.initials: ED
authors.lastname: Rabinovsky
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001402:B-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology; D002417:Cattle; D005260:Female; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008198:Lymph Nodes / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification* / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D008215:Lymphocytes, Null / Q000473:pathology; D008414:Mastitis, Bovine / Q000097:blood / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000473:pathology