[A study of the T-lymphocytes and their subsets in the peripheral and spleen using OK and Leu series monoclonal antibodies--especially patients with idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH) and liver cirrhosis].

The T lymphocytes and their subsets in the peripheral blood and spleen of the patients with idiopathic portal hypertension (IPH) and liver cirrhosis were analysed using OK and Leu series monoclonal antibodies. The healthy subjects showed no difference between the OK series (OKT3, OKT4, OKT8) and the Leu series (Leu3a, Leu2a). In the patients with IPH or liver cirrhosis, the percentages of OKT3 and Leu 4 positive lymphocytes (pan T), and OKT4 and Leu3a positive lymphocytes (H/I T) were similar, but the percentages of OKT8 and Leu2a positive lymphocytes (S/C T) in the patients with IPH were slightly decreased. The changes in the T lymphocyte subsets differed among the patients, but the patients with IPH and liver cirrhosis showed a slight decrease in the mean number of H/I T and a slight increase in that of S/C T after splenectomy. Pan T and H/I T in the IPH cases were similar to those of the normal spleen, but S/C T was slightly higher than that of the normal spleen. The distribution of the lymphocytes in the spleen examined by the ABC method showed that in the normal spleen, the OKT-positive lymphocytes were concentrated around the artery. The B1-positive lymphocytes were distributed on the outer portion of the OKT3-positive lymphocytes aggregate in a mantle shape. The distribution of the OKT4-positive subset and that of the OKT3-positive subset were almost the same. OKT8-staining was seen sporadically in the medullary cord, but there were slightly more OKT8-positive lymphocytes in the medullary cord in these spleens than in the normal spleen.