Leprosy. XII. T-cell subsets in lepromatous leprosy.

The authors quantitated T-rosette-forming cell (TRFC) and T-cell subsets (T mu, T gamma) in the peripheral blood of twenty patients with lepromatous leprosy. The results obtained in their studies are as follows: (1) They reconfirmed the low levels of TRFC in patients with lepromatous type of leprosy; (2) T-cell subsets, both T mu (helper) and T gamma (suppressor) cells, showed lower levels in all patients with lepromatous leprosy than mean values of normal healthy controls; (3) The degree of decreased levels of T mu cells (96%) was more severe than other parameters TRFC (70%) and T gamma cells (47%) in all patients with lepromatous leprosy; and (4) It may be concluded that the alteration of the T-cell subset, T mu-cells, reflects a more fundamental abnormality than TRFC aberration in demonstrating the impairment of cell-mediated immunity in patients with lepromatous leprosy.