Cortisol-resistant lymphocytes in experimental allergic processes and some diseases in men.

The material obtained permits us to conclude, that various diseases in men and experimental allergic processes, connected with the stimulation of immune mechanisms, are accompanied by increases of the CRLF. This reaction proved to be universal, for it was revealed in men and different types of animals during the investigation of peripheral blood and lymphatic nodes. The degree and duration of the CRLF increase varies and depends on a number of factors, including the character of the antigen and the type of activated immune mechanisms. All this permits the conclusion, that an increase of the CRLF content is an indicator of a general biological reaction of the immune system to antigen irritation. At the same time, changes take place in the T-lymphocyte system which are expressed by a redistribution of its subpopulations towards the accumulation of cortisol-resistant forms of T-cells. Development of sensitization is accompanied by a decrease of cortisol metabolism by lymphocytes of guinea pigs and rats lymphatic nodes. Similar changes in the properties of lymphocytes of human peripheral blood are not so distinctly revealed.