Changes in T-lymphocyte subsets during childhood Epstein-Barr virus infectious mononucleosis.
Lymphocyte subsets were measured using monoclonal antibodies in 11 children with Epstein-Barr virus-induced infectious mononucleosis and compared with those of 10 normal children. In acute infectious mononucleosis the percentage of T8+ lymphocytes was greater while the percentage of T4+ lymphocytes and the T4+ to T8+ ratio were less than those measured in normal children. The percentage and absolute number of T lymphocytes, as enumerated by E rosetting, did not differ from the values for normal children. The children with acute infectious mononucleosis had a somewhat lower T8+ response than that observed in four adult infectious mononucleosis patients. With clinical recovery, the T lymphocyte-subset values returned toward normal. T8+ lymphocytes, a phenotype subset with predominantly suppressor activity, presumably reduce normal cellular immune functions transiently and may limit the continued proliferation of Epstein-Barr virus-infected B lymphocytes.
D000328:Adult; D000375:Aging; D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal / Q000276:immunology; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D004854:Herpesvirus 4, Human; D006801:Humans; D007111:Immunity, Cellular; D007223:Infant; D007244:Infectious Mononucleosis / Q000276:immunology*; D013601:T-Lymphocytes / Q000145:classification* / Q000502:physiology; D050378:T-Lymphocytes, Regulatory / Q000502:physiology*
D000911:Antibodies, Monoclonal