Lymphocyte subpopulations bearing different surface markers in non-Hodgkin lymphoma.

Lymphoid cells isolated from peripheral blood and lymph nodes were examined by using the rosette test with sheep erythrocytes (E), the immunofluorescent staining of the surface immunoglobulins (SmIg), the rosette test with mouse C 57 BL erythrocytes (Em and a combined test (SmIg + E). These studies were performed in 143 patients with various subtypes of non-Hodgkin lymphoma and in 110 controls. In the control group the following percentage of cell types was obtained: 1) blood (n = 110): T-68 +/- 12, B- 20 +/- 3, O- 11 +/- 7, BT- 1 +/- 1.4, Em+ cells--9 +/- 7, C3+ cells--21 +/- 3, 2) lymph nodes (n = 23): T- 66 +/- 10, B- 17 +/- 10, O- 15.7 +/- 9, BT- 0.8 +/- 1.7. In non-Hodgkin lymphoma lymph nodes a statistically significant increase of null and B cells- was noted in comparison to the controls (p less than 0.001). Similar changes were observed in the blood of non-Hodgkin lymphoma patients in which the leukocyte count exceeded 10(3)/microliter, whereas in the cases with low leukocythosis the B-T values were within the nomal range. It is concluded that the marker studied does allow to differentiate in most cases between the non-Hodgkin lymphoma and other disorders of the lymphoid system. They also give additional information about the more exact nature of the lymphoid malignancies.