title: Lymphocyte subsets in patients with aplastic anemia.
abstract: Lymphocyte subsets were enumerated in a group of 31 patients with aplastic anemia. Abnormal numbers of immunoregulatory T-cells were found in some patients: 26% of them showed a reversed helper/suppressor ratio. Seven of 18 patients showed significantly decreased proliferation in response to PWM; this hyporesponsiveness was present in 75% of patients with a reversed helper/suppressor ratio and in 10% of those with a normal helper/suppressor ratio (R = 0.66, P = 0.008). Eight of 18 patients showed suppressor activity over PWM-induced allogeneic cell proliferation. This suppressive activity did not correlate with T-cell phenotype. Of the patients with a low number of T-cells, 73% had responded to treatment, whereas of those patients with a normal number of T-cells, 26% had responded (P = 0.016). The results are consistent with abnormal immune response in selected patients with aplastic anemia, and suggest a possible influence of T-cells on disease process.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000741:Anemia, Aplastic / Q000097:blood*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification*; D006377:T-Lymphocytes, Helper-Inducer / Q000145:classification; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000145:classification
chemical_list: D011043:Pokeweed Mitogens