Autologous immune response of tonsillar lymphocytes.

Tonsillar (TL) and peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) from patients with pustulosis palmaris et plantaris (PPP) or recurrent tonsillitis (RT) were analysed for their proliferative response of T-cells upon stimulation with non-T-cells in the autologous mixed lymphocyte reaction (AMLR). TL and PBL from the same donor were cultured in the AMLR for up to 7 days. Maximum proliferation was observed after a 6-day culture in PBL, whereas that of TL was observed on the 3rd day of the culture. It was also observed that the AMLR of TL in patients with PPP was significantly (p less than 0.01) lower than in patients with RT. On the other hand, it has previously been proved by an immunofluorescence study that there is an identical antigenicity between tonsillar epithelium and skin. From this result, a blastoid transformation study of TL and PBL from patients with PPP was performed by using homologous or autologous skin extracts. Both homologous and autologous skin extract induced blastoid transformation of TL but PBL scarcely responded. These results may support the opinion that an auto-immunological mechanism may take part in the onset of PPP.