T lymphocyte subsets in patients with newly diagnosed type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetes: a prospective study.
T lymphocyte subsets in peripheral blood from 11 newly diagnosed Type 1 (insulin-dependent) diabetic patients were studied prospectively at three time intervals: as soon as possible after diagnosis, 3 weeks and 5 months later. Lymphocytes were marked with monoclonal OKT antibodies and examined in a fluorescence-activated cell sorter. The percentage of T lymphocytes (OKT3) did not change significantly at the three study times. The percentage of helper/inducer T cells (OKT4) was high the first week after diagnosis, but decreased at the 5-month examination (p less than 0.05). The percentage of suppressor/cytotoxic T cells (OKT8) was low at diagnosis but increased at 3 weeks (p less than 0.02) and 5 months (p less than 0.01). The ratio OKT4/OKT8 lymphocytes was 2.28 at diagnosis, decreasing to 1.77 at 3 weeks and 1.87 at 5 months, compared with 1.46 for 16 age-matched control subjects. There was no significant change in the absolute number of lymphocytes. It is concluded that the distribution of T cell subsets was abnormal at the time of diagnosis, but changed towards normal within a few weeks, after which there was no significant change at 5 months. It is as yet unknown whether the high proportion of helper/inducer T cells and/or the low percentage of suppressor/cytotoxic T cells at diagnosis favour immune reactions involved in the pathogenesis of Type 1 diabetes.
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D003922:Diabetes Mellitus, Type 1 / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000276:immunology*; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D011446:Prospective Studies; D013602:T-Lymphocytes, Cytotoxic / Q000276:immunology*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000276:immunology*; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000276:immunology*; D013997:Time Factors