Byrom N A, Caballero F, Campbell M A, Chooi M, Lane A M, Hugh-Jones K, Timlin D M, Hobbs J R
Clin Exp Immunol. 1978 Mar;31(3):490-8.
Thirty asthmatic children were compared with an equal number of age-matched healthy children. The mean peripheral blood T-lymphocyte level without foetal calf serum was lower in the asthmatic group (mean 970/mm3, as against 1740/mm3; P less than 0.0001), but this difference was abolished by adding foetal calf serum or thymosin, thus explaining how quite severe T-cell deficiency can be missed by widely used methods. The degree of eosinophilia and the degree of elevation of the plasma IgE level in the asthmatic patients were positively correlated. Positive correlations were also shown between the degree of severity of the asthma, the degree of eosinophilia and the degree of elevation of the plasma IgE level, but not the degree of depression of the T-cell numbers. If this T-cell deficiency reflects an inadequate suppression of IgE responses, a clinical trial of thymosin appears to be warranted.
将30名哮喘儿童与数量相同、年龄匹配的健康儿童进行比较。在无胎牛血清的情况下，哮喘组外周血T淋巴细胞平均水平较低（平均970/mm³，而健康组为1740/mm³；P<0.0001），但添加胎牛血清或胸腺素后这种差异消失，这就解释了广泛使用的方法如何会漏诊相当严重的T细胞缺陷。哮喘患者的嗜酸性粒细胞增多程度与血浆IgE水平升高程度呈正相关。哮喘严重程度、嗜酸性粒细胞增多程度与血浆IgE水平升高程度之间也呈正相关，但与T细胞数量减少程度无关。如果这种T细胞缺陷反映了对IgE反应的抑制不足，那么胸腺素的临床试验似乎是有必要的。
