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Imbalance of t‐cell subpopulations does not result in defective helper function in chronic lymphocytic leukemia
Author(s) -
Inoshita Tsuyoshi,
Whiteside Theresa L.
Publication year - 1981
Publication title -
cancer
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 3.052
H-Index - 304
eISSN - 1097-0142
pISSN - 0008-543X
DOI - 10.1002/1097-0142(19811015)48:8<1754::aid-cncr2820480811>3.0.co;2-7
Subject(s) - medicine , chronic lymphocytic leukemia , immunology , leukemia , function (biology) , cancer research , microbiology and biotechnology , biology
The T‐lymphocyte subpopulations identified by the Fc receptors for IgG (T G cells) and IgM (T M cells) in 12 patients with B‐cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) were quantitated and studied for functional capabilities in an in vitro assay. The T G cells in patients were elevated in relation to age‐ and sex‐matched normal controls ( P < 0.05) resulting in an altered T M /T G ratio of 1.8 ± 0.76 in CLL versus 5.9 ± 3.7 in controls (mean ± SD, P < 0.001). Despite this altered T M /T G ratio, the functional capability of the CLL T cells to regulate the terminal differentiation of B cells was found to be normal as reflected by the mean helper–suppressor score of 0.77 ± 0.13 (±SEM) obtained for both patients and controls. This unimpaired capacity of the T cells from CLL patients to help normal B cells mature into immunoglobulin‐secreting cells indicated that hypogammaglobulinemia and monoclonal serum immunoglobulins in these patients may be a result of either an intrinsic defect in the B lymphocytes or their replacement by a neoplastic clone rather than a defect in the immunoregulatory T cells.