Surface markers of peripheral blood lymphocytes in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

The cell membrane markers on peripheral blood lymphocytes of 10 patients with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease (VKH) were analyzed by laser flow cytometry using monoclonal antibodies. Seven patients with active uveitis and 98 normal control subjects were also studied. The percentage of OKT3+, OKT4+ and OKT11+ cells were significantly lower while OKIa1+ cell were higher in VKH compared to controls. The percentage of cells reacting with monoclonal antibodies were slightly affected during steroid therapy, but returned to the pretreatment level after cessation of the therapy. OKIa1+ cells were shown to be increased in active uveitis while percentages of cells with other cell markers remained unchanged when the results were compared with that of the control. The findings suggest that the analysis of cell membrane markers on lymphocytes in VKH could be a significant parameter in clinical medicine.