Enumeration of lymphocyte subpopulations in bronchoalveolar lavage of monkeys using an immunoenzymatic staining technique.

Percentages of T-helper (OKT4), T-suppressor (OKTB), and B (B1) lymphocytes were determined in peripheral blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) from six cynomolgus monkeys using an alkaline phosphatase based immunoenzymatic staining technique. The percent of each lymphocyte subset in lung lavage fluids were 40 +/- 9%, 26 +/- 7% and 11 +/- 4% for OKT4, OKT8 and B1, respectively. This cell distribution is similar to that obtained from normal human BAL samples using fluorescence techniques to evaluate binding. Values for peripheral blood lymphocyte subsets were not statistically different from BAL. This immunoenzymatic technique avoids the necessity for cell separation procedures which are used to alleviate problems with alveolar macrophage autofluorescence that can be encountered in fluorescence based assays of BAL samples. This technique also can be used by laboratories interested in lymphocyte characterization, but not equipped for fluorescence microscopy or flow cytometry.