[Changes in distribution of T subpopulations in the peripheral blood of patients with severe idiopathic anemia].

The following immunological studies were performed in circulating mononuclear cells of 17 patients with severe aplastic anemia (SAA): a) lymphocytic phenotypes; b) proliferative response to PHA; c) determination of interleukin 2 (IL2) production and d) expression of Tac CD25. Fifteen of the seventeen patients showed altered CD4/CD8 regulatory populations, expressed as a significantly diminished CD4/CD8 ratio (0.72 +/- 0.19, NV: 1.8 +/- 0.6) (Table 1). The proliferative response to PHA was normal in 80% of the cases; only 2 of the patients showed a diminished response to the mitogen (Fig. 1). IL2 production by PHA-stimulated mononuclear cells was significantly increased (56.6 +/- 9.8; NV: 11 +/- 7.69) (Fig. 1), and a deficient expression to CD25 antigen was also recorded (Table 2). In the other two patients, we observed a normal CD4/CD8 ratio (Table 1, patients 1 and 2) with absence of proliferative response to PHA and hypo-production of IL2 (Fig. 1). These results suggest that in these two cases the hematopoietic defect could be associated to a primary deficiency of cellular immunity. Our results support the current concept of diversity of pathogenetic mechanisms implicated in SAA, and suggest that there are groups of patients with variable degrees of immunological defect that can be delineated through laboratory assays. On the other hand, the altered distribution of regulatory populations mostly due to an absolute decrease of the CD4 subpopulation, associated to the hyperproduction of IL2 and deficient expression of the Tac antigen in most of our patients, suggest the existence of functional alterations.