Appearance of killer (K) cells in the mesenteric lymph nodes in Crohn's disease.

The local lymph node in Crohn's disease contains killer (K) cells which are able to lyse antibody-coated heterologous target cells. K cells are not found in mesenteric lymph nodes from control patients not suffering from Crohn's disease, whereas they are regularly found in similar amounts in the peripheral blood of both control and patients with Crohn's disease. Even mesenteric lymph node cells from areas not macroscopically affected by inflammatory disease show increased K cell activity as compared to control lymph node lymphocytes, suggesting a generalized mesenteric lymph node involvement with regard to K activity in Crohn's disease.