T-cell subsets in patients with mild and severe atopic dermatitis.

Mononuclear cells separated from peripheral blood from 34 patients with mild and 19 patients with severe atopic dermatitis, and 24 controls, were stained with OKT3, OKT4 and OKT8, using immunofluorescence technique and counted. In patients with severe atopic dermatitis a highly significant decrease in OKT3, OKT4- and OKT8-positive lymphocytes was found, as compared with controls, as well as an increased OKT4/OKT8 ratio. Patients with mild atopic dermatitis demonstrated a significant decrease in OKT3-positive lymphocytes, whereas no statistically significant difference was found for OKT4, OKT8 or the OKT4/OKT8 ratio. These observations indicate that changes in T cell subpopulations in peripheral blood from patients with atopic dermatitis are related to disease severity.