Proportion of early E rosettes formed by peripheral blood lymphocytes from young and aged subjects.

The absolute number and percentage of early E-rosette-forming cells were determined in blood of young and aged subjects. The assay was carried out at low temperature (+4 degrees C) for 30 min in phosphate-buffered saline without any supplementation. The results indicate that both the absolute number and the percentage of early E rosettes detected are age-dependent, showing a tendency of reaching higher values in both aged females and males. There were also sex-related differences between young males and young females, but the values for aged males and females were approximately the same. The significance of the above-described early E rosette values is discussed and compared with early E rosettes detected by other methods.