Subpopulations of peripheral lymphocytes in juvenile diabetes.

Subpopulations of peripheral lymphocytes were studied in 26 children with insulin-treated juvenile diabetes and in 27 control children of comparable age. T-lymphocytes were quantitated by spontaneous rosette-formation with sheep erythrocytes and B-lymphocytes by indirect immunofluorescence with the use of monovalent, fluorescein-labeled rabbit antiserum specific to the heavy chains of human IgG IgM, or IgA. No significant quantitative difference in subpopulations of the peripheral lymphocytes, T-cells, and B-cells with IgG, IgA, or IgM markers found between children with juvenile diabetes and the control group, although the B-lymphocytes with IgG or IgA markers tended to be higher and those with IgM markers lower in the diabetic than in the control group.