Lymphocyte migratory pathways in adjuvant disease. I. Distribution of 51Cr-labeled thoracic duct lymph-borne.

Evidence for selective extravasation of thoracic duct lymph-borne cells, derived from rats with adjuvant disease, within joints of normal or adjuvant arthritic recipients was sough by adoptive transfer of radiolabeled cells. Control studies were carried out in parallel using thoracic ducts cells from normal donors. No increased homing of lymph-borne cells to inflamed portions of the limbs was detected when cells from adjuvant arthritic donors were compared with those of normal controls. Inflammatory changes, ie, adjuvant-induced disease, in the recipient produced a significant nonspecific enhancement of extravasation; cells from normal and adjuvant arthritic donors responded equally well. One difference in migratory behavior between lymph-borne cells from adjuvant arthritic and normal animals was the increased ability of the former to localize within certain lymph nodes. A possible association between this traffic and the development of chronic inflammatory processes within joints is discussed.