B-CLL cell surface markers and mitogen-induced thymidine uptake: a comparison between lymph node cells and peripheral blood lymphocytes in 25 patients.

Lymphocytes from peripheral blood and lymph nodes from 25 patients with B-CLL were analysed by immunofluorescent staining of surface membrane immunoglobulin (SmIg), the B-cell marker B1, and the T-cell markers Leu 1/2/3/4. Tritium-thymidine uptake was measured in mitogen-stimulated 4-day cultures. Differences in these parameters between cells from the two sources in each patient were calculated with the paired T-test. All cell samples showed a clonal B-cell population. More blood lymphocytes than lymph node cells expressed the monoclonal SmIg (mu or gamma, p = 0.04; kappa or lambda, p less than 0.01), and T-cells were more frequent in lymph nodes (p = 0.01), where the T helper/suppressor ratio was higher. Furthermore, lymph node cells showed a higher thymidine uptake in response to the mitogens LPS, PWM, and Cowan (p = 0.01, p = 0.01, and p = 0.004, respectively), but there was no difference in the responses to EBV, DxS, TPA and PHA (p greater than 0.5). The higher response in lymph node cells to some mitogens might in part be explained by differences in the numbers of accessory cells, such as T-helper cells, but also by the existence of leukaemic B-cell subsets with different mitogen response patterns and different distributions within the lymphoid compartments. The characterization of subsets within a malignant cell clone might be of clinical importance.