Studies on the subpopulation and function of peripheral lymphocytes, and inhibitor to PHA stimulation existing in the serum of patients with liver disease.

In our recent report we observed the abnormal response to PHA stimulation in the peripheral lymphocytes of patients with chronic liver diseases. The present report concerns extensive studies of this earlier report; analysis of the subpopulation and function of peripheral lymphocytes in patients with liver diseases. PHA responsiveness in acute hepatitis was reduced in the acute phase and improved during the convalescent stage. In chronic liver disease, half of the patients showed a decrease in T-cell population as well as a reduced response to PHA stimulation. These phenomena were observed more frequently in HBs-antigen positive patients than in HBs-antigen negative cases. Furthermore, we found the existence of an inhibitor to PHA response in the serum of 8 cases among 19 patients with various liver diseases. In patients with such a serum inhibitor, the reactivity of the lymphocyte itself to PHA was considerably higher but the T-cell population was much more decreased than that of inhibitor negative cases.